Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I support amendment No. 11 in Deputy McGrath's name. The largest weakness in the budget was the failure to address the issue of child care and children's needs. This went across the board in the Government's failure to reach its own targets in child benefit. Several agencies at the coalface have demonstrated these targets are essential in meeting the costs of providing for children. I expect the Minister for Finance will address this matter in his next budget. The absence of any substantive provision in the last budget was so glaring that he and his colleagues cannot fail to recognise the import of correcting it at the next opportunity.

In recent years a number of measures providing for a parent's right to take up full-time parenting have been introduced. However, no incentives have been given for parents to do so. For the first 12 months parents have the right to be absent from work commitments to enable them to provide for the needs of their children. This aspect, very much part of society in the past, has now changed.

The right of all parents to maintain or to access workplace opportunities is an absolute. However, it is not enough just to affirm the rights of parents in terms of workplace law and regulation to take up full-time parenting. We also have a responsibility to ensure measures are introduced which go some way towards compensating for the significant income loss that will arise and which offer incentive in order that people will seriously consider the option by perceiving that it is not as punitive an alternative as is often the case.

What we are looking at here is the introduction of a tax credit in regard to the home carer role. Primarily, that applies to the role of either father or mother dealing with the needs of children in the home place. It is an eminently sensible proposition. I am interested to hear more about the prescribed methodology of its application but I am also interested to hear what the Minister has to say on this proposition. I hope he will use the opportunity to indicate positively his intent to address the whole area of parenting, child care and the needs of children in our society, which have been so markedly overlooked in budget 2005.

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