Labour motion to protect Child Benefit

Issued : Tuesday 1 December, 2009

We know that many families rely on their child benefit to just survive. Very many families rely on their child benefit to pay for the basisc expenses. Childcare fees are so crippling that for many most of their salaries go towards paying for a creche. In addition, children are not entitled to free health care which adds to expenses. Schools are not free either as expenses for books, uniforms, voluntary contributions, photocopying, insurance and all the other costs add to parents' burden.

The Labour Party are saying that there are other alternatives open to the Government at this time. For example, instead of having three bands of child benefit, why not have three bands of taxation with the new band applying to individual incomes above €100,000. This would raise roughly the same amount of money, €355million, that will be saved by cutting back on Child Benefit. It is a much fairer way of raising revenue because you are not targeting low and middle income earners and not targeting children and families.

We have choices.