Ms Orla O'Connor:

I thank the committee for inviting the National Women's Council to come before it. We are the leading national women's membership organisation in Ireland and we represent over 165 member groups from a diversity of backgrounds, sectors and locations throughout the country.

For families, particularly women and children, child income supports, and particularly child benefit, are critical. We know that child benefit clearly recognises the role played by women as care givers and that income may not be distributed equally within the home. Research has shown that the vast majority of child benefit is spent either directly on children or indirectly in terms of household bills and supports.

In the Irish context, because of the lack of investment in child care, child benefit is seen as a key mechanism in supporting costs around child care. When the Government introduced a series of increases in child benefit it stated that it was about recognising child care costs.

Through successive budgets we have seen a reduced level of child benefit. The National Women's Council estimates that families with four children have already seen a cumulative loss of over €2,600 per annum. While some compensatory payments have been made in terms of dependent children, that is not extended to the vast majority of families.

We welcome the unanimity in the advisory group's report on tax and welfare in terms of its view that there should be a continued role for universality within the system of child income support. That is critical, but we are concerned about the ratio indicated in the report between a universal payment and a targeted payment.

While it is acknowledged that families on very low incomes may be compensated for any reductions to the universal element of the payment, it is the experience of the National Women's Council and our members that families on low and middle incomes are struggling to pay for essential household items. We are aware it is the only support in terms of paying for the costs of child care. We believe that any further reduction to the current levels of child benefit are unsustainable for the majority of families.

With regard to the thresholds recommended in the report, it is recommended that the second-tier payment would be withdrawn when gross income reaches €25,000. That is too low, particularly in terms of the needs of many women on low pay or reduced working hours.

Assessing gross income is also problematic as it does not take into account families' levels of expenditure commitments. For example, income could be assessed where expenditure such as accommodation costs, child care costs and health care costs for children might be excluded.

Regarding family income supplement, we are at one with the anti-poverty coalition in that we believe it is critical that an in-work support is maintained within the system. We are concerned about the recommendations in the report in that regard.

With regard to reducing levels of child income supports and trading off with services, from a National Women's Council perspective it is critical that services are put in place for children, particularly in terms of child care and also health care services. We have reached a point in this country as a result of austerity where it is not possible for families to sustain further cuts, and we must see those investments in services being made before any further cuts are considered.

In terms of the National Women's Council's recommendations on the report, the current levels of the universal payment must be maintained. We do not agree with the ratios suggested in the report. The entrance level at which families become eligible for the second-tier payment must be significantly higher than the €25,000 suggested. The exit levels or cut-off points must be higher. It is critical that an in-work support is maintained and clearly linked to employment rather than child supports.