Maintenance Act, 1994

Amendment of section 7 of Act of 1988.

11.—The following provisions are hereby substituted for section 7 of the Act of 1988:

“7.—(1) In this section ‘enforceable maintenance order’ means—

(a) a maintenance order as regards the enforcement of the whole of which an enforcement order has been made, or

(b) in case an enforcement order has been made for the enforcement of a maintenance order in part only, the maintenance order to the extent to which it is so ordered to be enforced,

and ‘maintenance order’ in this subsection includes an instrument or settlement referred to in Article 50 or 51 in so far as it provides for the payment of maintenance.

(2) (a) Subject to section 8 (4) of this Act and to the restriction on enforcement contained in Article 39, the District Court shall have jurisdiction to enforce an enforceable maintenance order and—

(i) for that purpose,

(ii) for the purposes of section 98 (1) of the Defence Act, 1954 , and

(iii) subject to the 1968 Convention, for the purpose of the variation or discharge of such an order under section 6 of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , as amended by the Status of Children Act, 1987 ,

such an order shall, from the date on which the maintenance order was made, be deemed to be an order made by the District Court under section 5 or section 5A or 21A (inserted by the Status of Children Act, 1987 ) of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , as may be appropriate.

(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect notwithstanding that any amount payable under the order concerned exceeds the maximum amount which the District Court has jurisdiction to award under the appropriate enactment mentioned in that paragraph.

(3) Where an enforceable maintenance order is varied by a court in a Contracting State other than the State and an enforcement order has been made as regards the whole or part of the enforceable maintenance order as so varied or as regards the whole or part of the order effecting the variation, as the case may be, the enforceable maintenance order shall, from the date on which the variation takes effect, be enforceable in the State only as so varied.

(4) Where an enforceable maintenance order is revoked by a court in a Contracting State other than the State and an enforcement order has been made as regards the order effecting the revocation, the enforceable maintenance order shall, from the date on which the revocation takes effect, cease to be enforceable in the State except in relation to any sums under the order which were payable, but were not paid, on or before that date.

(5) In the case of an enforceable maintenance order—

(a) any sums which were payable thereunder, but were not paid before the date of the making of the relevant enforcement order, and

(b) any costs of or incidental to the application for the said enforcement order payable by virtue of section 8 (2) of this Act,

shall, subject to section 6 (2) of this Act, be regarded as being payable by virtue of an order made under section 5 or section 5A or 21A (inserted by the Status of Children Act, 1987 ) of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , as may be appropriate.

(6) The jurisdiction vested in the District Court by this section may be exercised by the judge of that Court for the time being assigned to—

(a) in case the maintenance debtor under the enforceable maintenance order concerned resides in the State, the district court district in which the maintenance debtor resides,

(b) in case the maintenance debtor does not reside in the State but is in the employment either of a person residing or having a place of business in the State or of a corporation or association having its seat therein, the district court district in which that person resides or, as the case may be, the corporation or association has its seat.

(7) (a) Any sum payable by virtue of an enforceable maintenance order shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary therein, be paid by the maintenance debtor concerned to the district court clerk for the district court area in which the maintenance debtor for the time being resides or, in a case referred to in subsection (6) (b) of this section, a district court clerk specified by the District Court for transmission to the maintenance creditor or, where a public authority has been authorised by the maintenance creditor to receive such sum, to that authority.

(b) If any sum payable by virtue of an enforceable maintenance order is not duly paid and if the maintenance creditor concerned so requests in writing, the district court clerk concerned shall make an application under section 10 (which relates to the attachment of certain earnings) of the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 , or section 8 (which relates to the enforcement of certain maintenance orders) of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1940 , in respect of the sum and, for that purpose, the references in the said section 8 (other than subsections (4) and (5)) to the applicant shall be construed as references to the district court clerk.

(c) Nothing in this subsection shall affect the right of a maintenance creditor to institute proceedings for the recovery of any sum payable to a district court clerk under paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(8) Section 8 (7) of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1940 , shall not apply to proceedings for the enforcement of an enforceable maintenance order.

(9) A maintenance debtor under an enforceable maintenance order shall give notice to the district court clerk for the district court area in which the debtor has been residing of any change of address and a debtor who fails without reasonable cause to do so shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.

(10) In this section a reference to a district court clerk shall, where there are two or more district court clerks for the district court area concerned, be construed as a reference to any of those clerks.

(11) For the purposes of this section, the Dublin Metropolitan District shall be deemed to be a district court area.”.