€100 rise in payment not enough, says group

THE early childcare supplement is being increased by €100 to €1,100 in a full year but it is still not enough, said the National Women’s Council of Ireland.

The council described the budget as another missed opportunity by the Government to establish a universal publicly funded childcare infrastructure.

And it expressed dismay that less than €2 per week for child care costs had been allocated in the budget.

The early childcare supplement is a quarterly payment first introduced over a year ago.

It is made to parents for each child under the age of six as a contribution towards their childcare costs and is automatically paid to parents in the same way as child benefit.

One Family said the budget would not address the serious increase in poverty among single-parent families in Ireland. The Government had done nothing to prioritise areas such as child and family poverty despite commitments given.

One Family’s policy manager, Candy Murphy, said it was extremely disappointed by the increase in the qualified child allowance and the €20 increase in the back to school footwear and clothing allowance.

“An increase in €100 per annum in the early childcare payment will do nothing to help those parenting alone to cope with increasing food and other costs,” she said.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Martin Cullen, said he firmly believed that universal supports for children were still the best way to target child poverty.

He also pointed out that the weekly qualified child increase, formerly called the child dependent allowance, which increased from €2 to €24 in the budget, was a really targeted measure aimed at those who could benefit most from that payment.

He also pointed out that the family income supplement threshold will increase by €10 per child and that monthly child benefit payments was being used by many parents to meet childcare costs.