Minister for Justice Helen McEntee Publishes Review of the Enforcement of Child Maintenance Orders:

In circumstances where Child Maintenance Orders are not being complied with, enforcement measures are somewhat limited, and have been for some time. Courts do have the power to make an Attachment of Earnings Order, which directs the maintenance debtor’s employer to deduct maintenance at source and pay it directly to the maintenance creditor. Additionally, if a Child Maintenance Order was made in the District Court, it is possible for the maintenance debtor not complying to be found in contempt of court and thereby at risk of imprisonment. While the scope of enforcement may appear broad on its face, in practice it’s all too narrow and this goes to the core of calls for the law in its current form to be reviewed and replaced.

On the 8^th of January 2024, following consistent appeals for reform by large swaths of the public and various stakeholders, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee published the Review of the Enforcement of Child Maintenance Orders. The review, carried out to examine how the current system can be improved, contains 26 recommendations and spans three different approaches (consensus, compliance, and deterrence).

Minister McEntee commented: “Non-payment of child maintenance is a common problem and the current enforcement options available are limited in scope and impact. This is clearly unacceptable, given the critical source of income which it can represent. That is why, working with Minister Humphreys, I am determined to take action in this area to ensure that every child is properly supported.”

The key recommendations of the review include;

• The development of a set of child maintenance guidelines. The review highlights Ireland’s status as ‘’an outlier’’ in not having such guidelines in place. It notes that the current system can be perceived as inconsistent, and that it is very difficult for solicitors to advise a client on how much they will receive or pay.
• Strengthening the Attachment of Earnings Order.
• Examining further, in collaboration with the Department of Social Protection, the possibility of attaching an order to a PPSN rather than employing entities, so that orders do not lapse when there is a change of employer.
• The introduction of a single enforcement procedure when the receiving parent makes an enforcement application, allowing the judge to choose the most appropriate enforcement order depending on the circumstances of the case.
• The simplification of the bench warrant process.
• Placing the onus on paying parents to pay costs associated with enforcement proceedings.
• Permitting deductions from the paying parent’s bank accounts, from government subsidies and grants and the recovery of arrears from tax refunds.

It is hoped that these recommendations will improve the current enforcement system in a meaningful way. The review has gained support from the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, who has welcomed the recommendations and even made plans for announcing the introduction of measures to decouple social welfare from Child Maintenance System in line with the recommendations.

Discussing the review’s place in the Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025, Minister McEntee acknowledged the reality that many parents make private child maintenance arrangements, and stated her intention to ensure the courts have the necessary authority to safeguard the financial welfare of the child in cases where private arrangements break down or are not at all possible.

Click here for to view the Review of the Enforcement of Child Maintenance Orders