Thomas Pringle TD
Home / Dáil Debates / Pringle: ‘Totally inappropriate’ for child maintenance to be assessed as means in social welfare tests

Pringle: ‘Totally inappropriate’ for child maintenance to be assessed as means in social welfare tests

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said a bill to change the social welfare means test so that child maintenance payments are no longer assessed as means is long overdue.

Addressing the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle said: “It is totally inappropriate to ever treat child maintenance as a household income when it is intended specifically for the child, and this change is long overdue.

“In 2022, CSO figures have shown that 43.5% of one-parent families are living in deprivation, in comparison to 17.7% of people in two-parent households. As well as this, 23.8% of one-parent families are at risk of poverty and 14.1% are living in consistent poverty. 

“Recent findings from Growing Up in Ireland show higher levels of disadvantage amongst one-parent families and that financial strain is substantially higher for one-parent families, with 21% experiencing financial hardship. Lone parent families are also consistently at a greater risk of homelessness and are significantly over-represented in emergency accommodation. These figures show that Government policies designed to tackle poverty are clearly failing.

“In 2022, 17% of Irish households were headed by one parent, with over five times more one-parent mother families than one-parent father families. In my constituency of Donegal, 6,410 families with children were headed by single mothers and 1,182 by single fathers,” he said.

The deputy was speaking on Social Welfare (Liable Relatives and Child Maintenance) Bill 2023.

The deputy said: “Many people in this country believe that they are pro-women and pro-equality. They may be shocked to read the stats on the still notable and pervasive gender pay gap, the stats on the poverty rate of lone parents and they may be shocked to hear others make sexist or misogynistic remarks about single mothers or maternity leave being a holiday.

“But there are many who will sadly not be shocked at these conversations or these statistics, those who have first-hand experience of what it is like to be a lone parent in a country where it has taken us until 2024 to consider changing the legal definition of family beyond the scope of marriage,” he said.

Deputy Pringle said it was disappointing that the bill did not include the pre-legislative scrutiny recommendation to set up a Statutory Child Maintenance Agency as a first step before progression to family courts, “despite the fact that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission stated that ‘reliable and adequate provision of child maintenance can be an effective poverty reduction measure’.”

He said: “It is time that Ireland started to show due respect for lone-parent families and also to our carers, the majority of which are also women and many of which also experience significant financial strain. I don’t understand why carers, who are saving the state hundreds of millions in costs every year, are actively hemmed into poverty by our social welfare means testing policy.

“To a parent who cares for a disabled child, they are allowed to work 18 hours per week and earn no more than €450 per week, as implemented in the last budget. This implies that these circumstances would only occur to those on a smaller income or in a position to carefully monitor hours. Consider the ramifications of that. Disabled people are already more impacted by poverty than other portions of the population. Disabled children and their parent carers are having their financial situation curtailed. The government should remember that carers are providing the State with assistance, not the other way around. 

“As with this legislation regarding maintenance, I think it is time we stopped creating social policy with the few opportunists who may find a way to take advantage in mind and start ensuring we are treating all our citizens with respect and empathy. 

“If we are serious about creating an equal society for women in 2024, this is what needs to be addressed first and foremost,” he said.