Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

It is not often that I agree with the Government but Deputy Mansergh made the point that I was about to make. The point was that tax legislation is very anti-family. People are caught in a trap. For some people, it is uneconomic to continue to work because the cost of child care is so severe. In the last budget, they received an increase of €3.30 per week between child benefit and the early child care supplement. The supplement is worth €1,100 per year, approximately €21 per week, yet child care costs approximately €215 per week. There is a shortfall of approximately €200 per week for people whose children are in child care. They are trapped and they cannot make up their minds whether to stay at home and mind their children or be forced out to work to pay the cost of child care. This measure was introduced under the inequitable individualisation measure. The amount of the child care allowance has not been increased since then. Fine Gael wants that balance to be redressed. The dependency ratios are becoming higher as the years go on because we are an ageing population. Rather than reacting in ten or 15 years time, the Government should be proactive and should make it easier for people to afford to have families. As Deputy Bruton said, families should not be a commodity but rather a way of life. I know from personal experience that the Minister is putting young mothers and fathers in impossible situations. I hope the Minister will consider Deputy Bruton's amendment which is a valid one. I ask him to include it in the terms of reference for the Commission on Taxation. This should be a proactive measure. A pensions time bomb is in the offing because our dependency ratio will increase at such a rate in the next 15 to 20 years.

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