Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the report. I welcome that the advisory group is examining the overall impact of support to children. The view is that the universal benefit will be retained and I have some questions around that. Can Ms Mangan give more detail on the reason she believes taxation would hit the lower-income families if child benefit was taxed from the point of view that those who earn the most should pay more? Why has she come to the clear position that she does not believe that taxation would be a good format to use regarding the income received in families?

Ms Mangan spoke about the two-tier system but the beauty of the universal child benefit is that very little work has to go into the administration of it. It is just paid out to everybody. If we start changing the system, how much extra work would have to be done to examine the second tier? What resources would have to go into that? Would that offset the costs that Ms Mangan said may be saved in some areas? She might elaborate more on the poverty outcomes under the two-tier payment.