Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I support the amendment. The Government has failed to institute a plan which would bring the home carer's allowance at least some distance closer to the standard PAYE credit. The home carer's tax credit was introduced as a sop in response to the furore which greeted the introduction of tax individualisation. The fact that the value of the credit has remained static for several years indicates the Government is no longer interested in providing such a sop.

My family unit has helped the Government increase its tax base in that my wife chose to stop working outside the home and, as a result, lost the benefit of having a separate, individualised tax credit. I suspect many thousands of others are in the same position. Even with the new child care payments, the Government does not recognise that those who choose to work in the home have an equal economic or social value as others in the economy. If it is serious about valuing home carers, it should introduce significant, annual increases in the home carer's credit with a view to achieving parity with the PAYE tax credit. On these grounds, I support the amendment although the Minister, who has been silent on this issue to date, will not be inclined to accept it.

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