Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

Did the Labour Party give commitments prior to the election about not touching child benefit because it knew it would be wrong to attack the benefit? Does the Minister agree that the only consequence of cutting child benefit would be to increase child poverty and hit the most vulnerable sectors of society? Is it a red herring to speak about a few wealthy people benefitting from the payment when the majority of recipients are working, poor and vulnerable people who need it? If the Minister is to deal with wealth inequalities in our society, she could do so by imposing higher income taxes on the wealthy rather than cutting child benefit.

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