Discharging parental rights in Ireland?

Fiona

Hypothetical situation, looking to see if anyone has any factual information they could offer regarding it.

Man has a short relationship with a woman which results in a child. Man is not named on birth cert as a father neither does he have legal guardianship.

Child is 8 years of age. Father has not had contact with child in over 5/6 years due to ongoing issues with mother. Father is not aware of any health issues with child is not consulted in any matters regarding schooling either zero contact between both parties in this period of time.

Maintenance order was put in place 5/6 years ago to pay €60 a week. Mother is in a new relationship and has more children and new man has assumed role of father in said childs life.

Man has paid every week without fail but has effectively been unable to secure any proper accommodation of his own or make any proper dents in loans and savings / life due to financial constraints of paying maintenance.

There is no chance of reconciliation with partner or relationship with child. Does said man have right to ask courts to discharge his parental rights to this child since he is not named as father or legal guardian or has access and is effectively a 'cash cow'

What type of view could one expect the courts to take if a man was to go back to court and ask for a variation of the maintenance order if they were in a new relationship and wanted to lay down roots with new partner and get married & have kids etc but the financial impact of having this current maintenance order in place was affecting them?

I know a new partner wouldn't be liable to maintain a child from a previous relationship but I suspect there would be an assumption there that if a man was living with a new partner there would be dual incomes?

But what if that wasn't the case that living together didn't necessarily improve a mans financial situation as he had to take on now housekeeping and bill payments to his new partner and her home as well as his existing liabilities?

It's a tricky one!

I think if a woman has engineered a situation where they have not upheld the relationship of the father and child and all times especially when they agreed to the level of maintenance set by the court and have allowed another person to come in and assume the role of Daddy that the biological father be allowed to discharge his rights as maintenance payer and allow them get on with their lives and invest money into a new future which has prospects and serves them better?

Not sure if this belongs in the parenting forum trying to get some legal aspect on it (not emotions!)

Ken.

The only 2 ways I know of to discharge parenthood are
1. DNA test proves dad is not dad
2. woman gets married to someone else and biological dad allows new guy to adopt kid.

Any parent at any time can return to court for a variation of maintenance following a change in circumstances.