Minister correctly interpreted legalisation in assessing amount of One Parent Family Payment

Judicial review – challenge to the decision of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to use the full value of the monthly mortgage repayments made by the applicant’s ex-partner in assessing her means for the purposes of determining the amount of her One Parent Family Payment - homemaker and has two young children with her ex-partner from whom she is separated – receives €190 per week – resides in home purchased by her and her ex partner – partner pays the mortgage - determined that the full monthly mortgage repayment should be taken into account in assessing the means of the applicant – upheld on review – appeal dismissed – relevant legislative provisions – argued that the payments are made on foot of his obligations pursuant to the mortgage and she had no control over these payments – interpretation of “non-cash benefits” – alleged lack of reasons – statutory interpretation – alleged failure to treat similar applicants equally – fixed and inflexible policy - literal approach to statutory interpretation and giving these words their plain and ordinary meaning, this clearly encompasses rent, repayment of a mortgage entered into for the purchase of a property and repayment of a mortgage entered into for the repair or essential improvement of a property -assessment of maintenance - nothing in the legislation which allows the decision maker to set off any purported benefit to the “liable relative” based on their joint ownership of the property or on any other basis – Minister correctly interpreted the legislation – arguments that the Minister has engaged in an arbitrary system of implementation which fails to treat similar applicants equally or that the Minister in its interpretation is engaging with a fixed and inflexible policy or basing its interpretation on administrative convenience fall away – Minister adequately set out the rationale for its decision namely, that the legislation provides that the full amount of the mortgage repayments being made by the liable relative in this case has to be taken into account in the assessment of the applicants means - reasons given are adequate, factually sustainable, and allows the Court to exercise its supervisory jurisdiction – judicial review refused.