We need to reform child benefit and be fair to low-income families

DEAR Joan

I’m putting this idea forward as a layman, entirely unencumbered by all the wisdom and years of experience that you’re surrounded with in your Department of Social Protection. I’m a bit slow, so it will take me this column and next week to spell out my idea in full.

Patience isn’t your strongest virtue, Joan, so bear with me! Despite (or maybe because of) my lack of professional expertise, I’ve been at the receiving end of civil service wisdom over the years. I’ve found from time to time that they’re much better at telling you why something shouldn’t be done than they are at telling you how to do it. In fact, I suspect that’s the reason why you’ve made so little headway so far on something you want to do, and that’s a meaningful reform of the child benefit system.