Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023

Public bill · Government · Presented

The main changes are to stop child maintenance payments being counted as income when people are assessed for social welfare, and to abolish the “liable relative” rules that let the State seek contributions from a non-resident parent in some one-parent family cases. It also makes related clean-up changes across several social welfare payments so the same maintenance payments are ignored in means tests for schemes such as jobseeker’s, disability, supplementary welfare, rent supplement, pensions, carer’s allowance and one-parent family payment. That matters because it should leave more support available to separated parents and families receiving maintenance.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to amend the Social Welfare Acts to exclude assessment of child maintenance payments from social welfare means tests and to repeal the provisions relating to liable relatives; to make further provision for certain matters relating to persons to whom permission to reside in the State is given under section 60(6) of the International Protection Act 2015 and, for that purpose, to amend the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and the International Protection Act 2015; and to provide for related matters.

Last updated 30 August 2024