Dr. Donal de Buitléir:

The way this is set up is very sensible. We will produce a public report with a recommendation and the Minister, as I understand it, can change it if he wants to do so and go into the Dáil to explain why. Ultimately, we live in a democracy and Ministers must make the final decision. It is quite a good structure. We must always contemplate the possibility we might get it wrong. It is a protection against that.

Regarding the family income supplement, other countries have in-work benefit that tries to make work pay. Looking at the poverty numbers in this country, one in ten children are in poverty compared to one in 50 older people. Where people have a large number of dependants, we cannot have pay relating to family circumstances. We had that in the Civil Service when I joined in the early 1970s, with married men being paid more than single men and single women. Single women had to retire on marriage. That is a completely outdated notion and the question of having a supplementary in-work benefit is positive. The last time I looked, a number of years ago, one of the problems was the question of take-up of the family income supplement. It may be an issue and getting it working properly may be an issue. In principle, it is a good system.