Jail threat for child maintenance refusal

Liable relatives who consistently refuse to pay child maintenance could face prison under new proposals from Sinn Féin.

The party’s spokesperson for employment affairs and social protection, TD John Brady, launched his proposal for a statutory Child Maintenance Service yesterday, based on the model which operates in the North.

As outlined in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, it allows three options for the provision of maintenance: parental arrangements, direct pay in which the CMS would set the level where the amount to be paid is disputed and, finally, collect and transfer.