KEY POINTS:
Inland Revenue was letting "deadbeat dads" leave New Zealand without making arrangements to pay child support debts even when informed about flight details, National's Judith Collins said today.
Mrs Collins, National's welfare spokeswoman, said a woman contacted IRD to let it know flight details for her Australian-based former husband and father of her two children.
She claimed he earned about $100,000 but had not paid child support for a decade and owed over $20,000 in child support.
"Why, despite being handed all the information on a plate, did the Inland Revenue Department do no more than meekly ask this man as he was about to leave the country whether he would like to make a voluntary payment?" Mrs Collins asked in Parliament.
She said IRD had told the woman on January 23 that when the man tried to leave the country he would "be in for a big surprise" but he was only asked if he wanted to pay off his debt.
Mr Dunne said he could not comment on the individual case but said legislation passed last year would make it easier to make such collections in future.
He said measures to allow a partial write-off of late payment penalties had been successful and had seen debt levels reduced.
"What that means is that more child support is being paid and getting through to more children. That has to be successful."
Mrs Collins said IRD could use existing powers to apply for arrest warrants more "in order to prevent these deadbeat dads from walking away from their financial obligations to their very own children".
She accused the Government of putting freedom of movement rights above the rights of mothers and children.
Mr Dunne said IRD had been seeking arrest warrants more but usually cases were resolved without actual arrests going ahead.
- NZPA
