Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 15 February 2023

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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There are one or two brief points that I would like to ask the panel about. I thank the witnesses for their various contributions on the report.

I would like to ask briefly about PRSI for pensioners and also child benefit and child poverty. Chapter 9 focuses on child benefit as it is and on whether it should continue to be a universal payment. There is also the child allowance that a social welfare recipient would receive. There was a recommendation towards an additional child benefit or a means-tested portion of it. I would be interested to hear the panel's views on that. Would it be almost like a small top-up? Would it be a large proportion of the overall funding that a parent should receive for child benefit? What kind of a sliding scale would it be on? Who would receive it? At present, the lower deciles of population would be able to get the social welfare top-up. There is a cohort, probably the four middle deciles of population, that would not be benefiting in a lot of different areas. Where would they spread that kind of a payment? I would be interested to hear about that. We can return to the PRSI for pensioners afterwards. I will open that question to anyone who has an interest in child benefit or child poverty.