Ahern targets maintenance loophole

JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern is moving to close a legal loophole which has made it impossible to serve enforcement orders on errant fathers who have failed to pay child maintenance.

Since a Supreme Court ruling in June 2009 that changed the legal onus from a debtor having to prove they can’t pay to a creditor needing to provide evidence they can afford to pay, applications for child maintenance enforcement orders have been routinely refused.

New legalisation, the Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Act, 2009, took account of the Supreme Court ruling but did not amend the issue in family law. This has resulted in the refusal by District Courts to issue child maintenance enforcement orders and dozens of existing notices have been struck out.

Family law solicitor Lauren Martin said: “Practically this means there is no way to force people that are due to pay maintenance to pay it. This situation in the main has affected single mothers who are already struggling to support their families.”

A Department of Justice spokeswoman said: “The courts service has flagged the difficulties being experienced in some maintenance cases and the minister, following consultations with the Attorney General, proposes to bring forward an amendment in the forthcoming Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.

“This will have the effect of inserting a new enforcement provision into the 1976 Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act,” she said.

The new legalisation is expected to be put in place promptly.

Figures from the Department of Social and Family Affairs also show that it could not collect child maintenance from almost 3,200 parents last year because in 1,408 case the liable parent could not be traced, in another 1,591 cases their identity was not known or they were deemed violent and therefore not contactable.

In every case where a One-Parent Family Payment is awarded, the department’s Maintenance Recovery Unit (MRU) must trace the other parent in order to find out whether he or she is in a financial position to contribute towards the cost of the payment. Liable relatives earning more than €18,000 a year are assessed with a maintenance liability. Last year the MRU found that in 3,751 cases the liable relative was on social welfare, and in another 4,271 cases the liable relative was working, but no contribution was due because the wages paid were not high enough.

The Government had considered the possibility of deducting maintenance from salary or welfare payments, but a spokesperson said this was not presently being pursued. She said the MRU’s work last year resulted in savings of €3.3m.