Update on changes to the assessment of Child Maintenance Payments

We have contacted the Department of Social Protection to get clarification for parents on how changes to child maintenance means testing will work in practice and we have updated the most frequently asked questions on our helpline below based on their response. 

Put simply, child maintenance is money paid to the parent the children live with most of the time, by the other parent, to pay towards the cost of caring for them. 

A parent is required to maintain a dependent child. A dependent child is a child who: 

  • Is under 18 years old or 
  • Is over 18 and under 23 years old but is still in full-time education or 
  • Someone who has a mental or physical disability and where it is not reasonably possible for the child to maintain her/himself fully. In this case the duty to financially maintain that child continues indefinitely. 

 

In Irish law, both parents are obliged to provide for their dependent children according to their circumstances – whether they were married or not. 

Prior to these changes child maintenance was included in calculating a person’s ‘means’ which decides the amount of payment they receive weekly. Some maintenance was ‘disregarded’ if the person paid rent or mortgage. This announced change means that once the new legislation is commenced, child maintenance will not be included in calculating a person’s ‘means’ and it won’t impact the amount of weekly payment they receive. 

No, only child maintenance paid for the benefit of a child will be excluded. You must still declare spousal maintenance and it will continue to be included in means testing as normal. 

If you are on a reduced-rate payment because child maintenance is included in your ‘means’ as income, then, once it is removed, and provided all other circumstances remain the same, your weekly social welfare payment should increase.  

A review will only result in an increase in your payment depending on how much child maintenance you receive and whether you were previously using a housing disregard to minimise how much maintenance was included in the initial means test. For example, if you receive and declared weekly child maintenance of €80 per week but you also have housing costs over €95 per week, then your payment may not have been reduced due to child maintenance and a review will not result in an increase. The Department will publish information about how payments will be reviewed, once the legislation has commenced in the coming weeks.

The law which allows the Department of Social Protection to exclude child maintenance in the calculation of means has now been enacted as announced on March 7th 2024 but the legislation still needs to be commenced. The Department are now preparing the associated regulations required to commence this new law and payments reviews, where maintenance was included in the means test, will happen after that. The Department have advised that any increase in your payment will be backdated to the date the law is commenced and not when it was enacted on March 5th 2024. The Department will publish information in the coming weeks with clarification for parents on how this will work in practice. 

The Department is not requiring people who make a new application for One-Parent Family Payment or Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment to show evidence of having looked for maintenance from the other parent. They are no longer initiating follow up on ‘liable relatives’ (usually the non-resident parent) to recoup money they have paid out. If you are making a new claim, you are not required to provide details of having sought child maintenance from the other parent. 

If you are making a new claim and you provide details of any child maintenance you receive it will not be included in the means test once the legislation is commenced in the coming weeks and you will not be asked to pursue maintenance payments from the other parent. You must declare any spousal maintenance as this will continue to be included in means testing. 

The law which allows the Department of Social Protection to exclude child maintenance in the calculation of means has now been enacted as announced on March 7th 2024 but the legislation still needs to be commenced. The Department are now preparing the associated regulations required to commence this new law and payments reviews, where maintenance was included in the means test, will happen after that. The Department have advised that any increase in your payment will be backdated to the date the law is commenced and not when it was enacted on March 5th 2024. The Department will publish information in the coming weeks with clarification for parents on how this will work in practice. 

If there is a court order which requires you to pay child maintenance, you must continue to pay. If you do not, you are in breach of a court order which is an offence. Parents are responsible for the support and maintenance of their children, and this is not linked to whether the other parent is on a social welfare payment. 

In Irish law, both parents are responsible for the support and maintenance of their children. This change does not change those obligations. It is hoped that it will improve the situation for children, not disimprove it. 

The decision to remove child maintenance from the assessment of means applies to all social welfare payments and not just One-Parent Family Payment or Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment. If you are in receipt of Disability Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Working Family Payment etc. and your payment has been reduced because you receive child maintenance then these changes will apply to you. The Department have advised that any increase in your payment will be backdated to the date the law is commenced and not when it was enacted on March 5th 2024. The Department will publish information in the coming weeks with clarification for parents on how this will work in practice. 

Yes, these changes will apply to you. Child maintenance will no longer be assessed as means or income for the purposes of any Department of Social Protection Social Assistance scheme or means tested payment, which includes Rent Supplement, once the legislation is commenced. The Department have advised that any increase in your payment will be backdated to the date the law is commenced and not when it was enacted on March 5th 2024. The Department will publish information in the coming weeks with clarification for parents on how this will work in practice. 

No, these changes only apply to means tested social welfare payments. Other state supports like medical cards, childcare subsidies etc. will still means test maintenance according to the rules and regulations associated with that support. One Family will continue to campaign to have means testing of child maintenance removed across all Government supports. 

The Department are now preparing the associated regulations required to commence this new law and payments reviews, where maintenance was included in the means test, will happen after that. The Department have advised that any increase in your payment will be backdated to the date the law is commenced and not when it was enacted on March 5th 2024. The Department will publish information in the coming weeks with clarification for parents on how this will work in practice. 

In the meantime, it is better if parents do not request a payment review if it only relates to the inclusion of child maintenance. Your right to request a payment review for other reasons (a new job, a reduction in working hours etc.) remains in place.

You can also contact the askonefamily helpline on 01 6629212 or 0818 662212 and we would be happy to help. You can also email us at helpline@onefamily.ie 

We will update this page when we receive any updated information.

Background and Context

The Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023, gives effect to significant reforms for people parenting alone, including the exclusion of maintenance payments from social welfare means tests for the first time.

In November 2022, the Government announced that child maintenance payments would no longer be included when calculating means and assessing eligibility for social welfare payments. This decision was made following recommendations made by the Child Maintenance Review Group, established by Government. The decision means that many people parenting alone on reduced rates of social welfare payment (due to the inclusion of child maintenance as means) will see their payment increase. It also means that more lone parents may qualify for a social welfare payment.

Seeking Maintenance and the Liable Relative Provision

The review group recommended that parents no longer be required to show ‘proof of efforts’ that they had sought maintenance from the other parent which is a requirement for the One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment. This recommendation was accepted. In August 2023, the Minister announced that she had signed regulations which meant that parents no longer had to prove that they had sought maintenance from the non-resident parent when applying for the One-Parent Family Payment, or Job-Seeker‘s Transitional Payment. 

The recommendation to remove the liable relative provision (which allowed the Department to recoup money from the non-resident parent)  was also accepted and the required changes to the law are now in place. 

Exclusion of Child Maintenance Payments from Means Testing 

Changes to the law were also needed for the removal of child maintenance as means from new and existing claims, where it was included. The Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 has now been enacted and the legislation will be commenced in the coming weeks as per a Department press release on March 7th 2024 which you can read here.  

Once the legislation has been commenced, the exclusion of child maintenance from means testing will apply to both new social welfare applicants and people who already receive social welfare payments. Child maintenance will no longer be assessed as means or income for the purposes of any Department of Social Protection social assistance scheme or means tested payment including One-Parent Family Payment, Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment, Carer’s payments, Rent Supplement, Disability Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance etc. 

Obligation to Support Children 

The removal of child maintenance from the calculation of social welfare payments does not in any way reduce a parent’s obligations to support their children. It is still the primary responsibility of both parents to maintain and support their children. It is hoped that these changes will improve the situation of children where their main carer is dependent on a social welfare payment, particularly in the context of increased cost of living expenses.