that the Family and Child Support Office was forgetting about its worst-case deadbeat dads.

Despite managing to clear up several million dollars in child support arrears, Mr. Kelly conceded there were still around 60 fathers who each owed around $25,000 or more to their children -- that is a total of $1.5 million-plus.

"We haven't written them off as such,'' he said.

However, he said the men were proving virtually impossible to apprehend or get any money out of.

The single mother, who did want to be named, said the father of her child owed $18,000 in support arrears, but it seemed the case had "been swept under the carpet''.

The father had been in and out of jail on other matters, but whenever she saw him she informed Police, she said.

However, they never seemed to arrest him and bring him before the courts, she said.

"They've got to put more pressure on the really bad cases,'' said the working mother.

But Mr. Kelly said warrants had been issued for the men but most managed to continually evade the authorities.

In any event, most of the men were not in a position to make their payments, being either out of a job, in prison, St. Brendan's or living on the street, he noted.

The mothers owed the money had to accept "if the father is strung out on drugs five days a week you're not going to get any money from him'', Mr. Kelly said. "There are just some (fathers) it doesn't look hopeful of getting any money of any time soon.'' Social assistance was available to them and the Office of Family and Child Support would help them apply, he said.

Mr. Kelly said in the meantime, the office, which handled about 2,200 child support cases, would continue to issue warrants and attempt to track down the delinquent dads.

"Cases are only swept under the carpet if we can't find any of the party -- the mother, father or child,'' he assured.

Mr. Kelly had revealed this week that more than $6 million in child support payments had been collected since Government's creation of the Family and Child Support Office two years ago.

Mr. Kelly noted the office was collecting 65 percent of all court-ordered support payments compared to around 48 percent before the office was set up in late 1992.

Although 35 percent were clearly still getting away with not making payments, he said the figure was high when compared to America.

"In the US they collect only 20 percent of child support orders,'' he said.

"In Florida, they just hired 16,000 new staff in the area of collections. In fact, the problem is so serious the Department of Revenue took it over from Health and Social Services.'' Mr. Kelly said he expected the office to one day reach collection of 70 percent of all support payments. Anything higher would not be realistic, he said.

More success was being had in collecting the money due to the concentrated efforts of the office in tracking down deadbeat fathers. The courts were then making attachment-of-earnings orders whenever necessary and prison was used as a last resort.