What should maintainence payment cover?

Leitbrook

should additional payments be made when a child is starting school? If a person is paying 200 per month towards child and both parents working and parent getting single parent allowance should that not also cover school books uniform etc?

Big Bag of Chips

Not really. Back to school and Christmas are always accepted as extra expenses times. It's why many people take out loans at that time to cover the additional expense that is extra to the everyday spending.

You shouldn't think of maintenance as money to the parent, you should think of it as money to your child. You shouldn't think of "what is the minimum I can get away with" you should think "what is the best I can give". If you lived together as a couple you would be shouldering these additional costs together. €50 a week is probably reasonable when you factor in the other parents contribution. But Christmas and back to school are exceptional expenses and need to be catered for.

FishOnABike

What is fair to the child(ren) and both parents ?

Two parents, living apart, have to accept that everyone has to get used to a reduced standard of living as what once were shared living expenses have doubled due to having to manage two separate households. Both parents need to provide for Christmas and birthdays - these are not exceptional expenses.

I don't think any hard and fast answer can be given as everybody's circumstances are different. Each parent's overall income and expenditure needs to be taken into consideration. This includes whether one parent is working part time, has childcare costs, is in receipt of one parent family allowance, child benefit, back to school clothing and footwear allowance. Taking everything into account each parent should be making a fair and equitable (not necessarily equal) contribution to their child(ren)'s welfare.