National Women's Council: Don't cut child benefit

The National Women's Council has called for child benefit to be spared further cuts, after the price of childcare was shown to range up to €9,000 per year for some families.

The issue was highlighted again this week after the ESRI published and later retracted a work-in-progress report showed for many families with an unemployed parent, taking up a new job can cost up to €10,000 in childcare and transportation costs.

Head of policy at the National Women's Council Orla O'Connor said: "We recommend to the Government to leave child benefit alone. It's already been reduced in three budgets.

"You fund it is through a more progressive model of taxation…One of the things that we've recommended is a third rate of tax for higher earners.

"We need to look at taxation more broadly, rather than just focusing in on child benefit."