Budget2020: NWCI responds on a Statutory Maintenance Agency, childcare and violence against women

Published: Friday, October 18, 2019

With the announcement of Budget 2020, the National Women’s Council of Ireland welcomed progress toward one of our key recommendations, the establishment of a Statutory Maintenance Agency. Minister Regina Doherty announced the establishment of “a judge-led group to determine, based on best international practice, maintenance guidelines and regulations. It is crucial that this group leads to the establishment of a Statutory Maintenance Agency which has the potential to be a game changer for lone parents.

NWCI looks forward to working with the Minister and relevant Government Departments to ensuring the Statutory Maintenance Agency is women centred, and that the experiences of lone parents, particularly those who have experienced domestic abuse, are at the centre of its work.

 Ultimately, the agency must ensure that women are no longer forced to secure child maintenance through the adversarial court system in an approach that is costly, complex and time consuming and that no woman is forced to seek maintenance directly from an abusive former partner.

NWCI also welcomed the increased investment into Early Years Care and Education under the National Childcare Scheme. The extension of one year until August 2021 for lone parents and other families to continue to stay on existing schemes will give the opportunity of assessing the long term financial impact on families of the new National Childcare Scheme. We also welcome that additional families and children will now receive subsidies for the first time or receive increased subsidies. This is critical for recognising the diverse needs and working patterns of families today. Widening access to children with disabilities to the ECCE is also very positive to see.

We welcomed the Minister’s announcement of a fund to support the introduction of a sectorial employment order for childcare workers, who are predominately women, underpaid in precarious work. All of these measures bring us closer to a comprehensive public mode of Early Years Care and Education which is critical for women, children and families.

Given the increasing demand for frontline services to tackle domestic and sexual violence, it is disappointing to see funding remaining static. Ireland will be unable to meet its requirements under the Istanbul Convention unless there is a significant increase in investment across all of the relevant departments.

NWCI's immediate reaction to Budget2020 can be read here. 

A more detailed reaction to the National Childcare Scheme can be found here.