Cutting child benefit should ‘always be a last resort’
The National Women’s Council, the Children’s Rights Alliance, One Family, OPEN and the Protest Against a Child Unfriendly Budget (PACUB) warned that a reduction in child benefit would have a serious negative impact on families throughout the country.
PACUB spokeswoman Treasa Dovander said child benefit was the only remaining state support given to all families as a contribution towards the costs of rearing children.
“We ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin to have a heart this Christmas and see that if one child suffers because of this cutback, it is one child too many,” said Ms Dovander.
“No matter how dire Ireland’s economic situation is, taking money from our children should always be a last resort,” she said.
OPEN director Frances Byrne said a cut in child benefit, if introduced, must be compensated for with a significant increase in targeted payments to children living in poverty.
“What really concerns us most is the impact that the cuts will have on the poorest families in Ireland, which I am unhappy to tell you are still families that are led by lone parents” she said.
One Family policy and campaigns manager Candy Murphy said a cut in child benefit would reduce lone parents’ ability to move out of poverty and into employment and would have a negative effect on already agreed maintenance agreements made by separated couples.
Children’s rights Alliance policy director, Maria Corbett, said taxing or means-testing child benefit would demonstrate blind short-term thinking that was impractical, costly and would, ultimately, fail to make any savings.
