Lone parents will not have to contact their abusers - Doherty

Women who have been abused by an ex-partner and are seeking the lone parent’s allowance will no longer have to contact their abuser or provide evidence of efforts to seek maintenance from them.

Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty told the Dáil that "we believe women" and that once they present their story "that's the end of the road. There is no need for a piece of paper. There is no need for a barring order."

Announcing a series of major reforms in the way Department officials deal with women and men who have suffered abuse, Ms Doherty said the guidelines were very clear that claims should be processed without delay and “without the lone parent ever having to contact their abuser”.

She stressed she wanted to state very clearly in the Dáil that “we believe women because the inference is otherwise that somebody might come and make that up and actually I think that’s so distasteful it’s not funny”.

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The Minister said Women’s Aid would devise and provide training to all frontline staff on dealing with cases of domestic abuse with an accreditation so that they are equipped to deal with abuse cases.

And the Department’s IT system would be changed to provide a “little box” to be ticked “that says no letter to ever be sent out” and no reason or explanation would be given, so as not to mark out somebody’s record.

Ms Doherty announced the reforms during question time on Social Protection after she had met a woman who highlighted her own case and the way her application was dealt with.

Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said the woman involved, named only as Kate, was told to make reasonable efforts to contact her abuser. When she produced the safety order, she was told "safety orders are quite easy to get".

The Dublin West TD claimed the response to abuse victims came from the department’s “welfare cheats” campaign. “I think that’s where it disseminated from.”

Ms Doherty said however that it was a condition of the one-parent family payment and jobseekers’ transitional payment that lone parents must make efforts to seek maintenance from the other parent, even if the effort is unsuccessful.

Fianna Fáil social protection spokesman Willie O’Dea said he had come across a number of cases where “people were told to seek maintenance against a violent ex-partner or else lose lone parent’s allowance”.

Ms Doherty said that no letter about maintenance requirements should be sent out to abuse victims.

The Minister pointed out that it was currently a condition of the one-parent family payment and jobseekers’ transitional payment that lone parents must make efforts to seek maintenance from the other parent, even if the effort is unsuccessful.

“So there will be letters that will be sent out, but they should be sent to the neglectful parent as opposed to parent who is raising their child.”

She said she could not guarantee that letters would not be issued but she had asked Women’s Aid to re-frame the letters so that they would not cause they upset and offence they had done.

Ms Doherty said she thought the letters benign and had asked Women’s Aid to review them “through the lens” of people who deal with vulnerable cases.

Independent TD Catherine Connolly welcomed the Minister's initiative as a "clear protocol" but she said "clear practice" was required.

Ms Connolly said however “that letter was not an aberration it was a reflection of the practice in your Department” of how women who were abuse victims were treated.

Ms Doherty said she and her Department “take very seriously issues of domestic violence”.

She recognised the valuable role of the maintenance recovery unit. She said the questions of a National Maintenance Recovery Agency would be considered as part of the consideration of the review group looking at the work of her Department.