Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

When the Minister assumed that everyone agreed with him on child dependant allowances, I interjected and stated that the Combat Poverty Agency and the End Child Poverty coalition, which represents several bodies, does not hold that position. One-parent representative organisations such as One Family have also articulated views contrary to those of the Minister on this matter. The failure to increase child dependant allowances since 1994 means that the relative income of people whose children depend on such allowances has disimproved. The latter is regardless of what the Government has done in respect of child benefit.

The assertion about child benefit being universal is also untrue. It is no longer universal because the children of asylum seekers do not qualify for payment. I presume the children of EU workers who have failed to meet the two-year criteria in terms of living and working in this country also fail to qualify. There are entire categories of children living here who do not qualify for child benefit. The Minister is wrong, therefore, on two grounds. There is a demand that child dependant allowance be paid because it is meant to be a child-centred payment. Children have no control over whether their parents are unemployed. To freeze the child dependant allowance for ten years and state that child benefit is a compensating factor is not acceptable, particularly to those whose job it is to identify and cater for the needs of children, especially those in one-parent families, who live in poverty.

I ask the Minister to give more consideration to this matter. He should not be as adamant when it comes to making decisions in preparation for next year's budget and social welfare Bill.

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