Mr. Robert Thornton:

Yes, obviously there is a huge amount of research and evidence. In terms of the second tier of child benefit proposal, the one piece of analysis that is missing is the change from the structure of the current system, which takes account of that cost for the older child, to a system that does not do that anymore.

That has been a positive change in the system in recent years and should not be done away with lightly. There is a huge breadth of data available. Fundamentally, what we have seen in the past number of years and what we would say in response to the approach during the cost-of-living crisis is there were adjustments to core rates of social protection and income supports in work more or less and these were topped up with a series of one-off payments and temporary measures. That pushed down the road the problem of indexing and benchmarking the underlying core rates to some degree of adequacy. It is welcome we are no longer topping up temporarily but, rather, giving certainty. The certainty is not at a high enough level, however. The measure fundamentally needed to address child poverty and poverty overall because children do not live in a household by themselves - a child in poverty is in a household in poverty - is to address to the adequacy of underlying incomes rates and ensure people have enough money to live on. Then, we can look at other groups and circumstances that need further assistance. Having fundamental rates at an adequate level is an important first step.