Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The income of no other group of people has been affected to such a proportion by this budget as will be the income of this group of single parents by section 7. Many single parents, primarily single fathers, will be hit for €2,500 a year, between the loss of the credit and the reduction of the lower rate band. This will apply to people even on modest incomes. People on the average wage of approximately €37,000 a year could lose €2,500. Nobody else has been affected to that extent by the budget.

I concur with Deputy Boyd Barrett that ultimately it is the children who will pay the price for this change. This will mean fewer maintenance payments will be made by fathers, because they will be out of pocket to the tune of approximately €50 a week due to this change. I acknowledge that the current provision regarding this tax credit is anomalous. Deputy O'Sullivan acknowledged earlier that even fathers who play no active role whatsoever in the upbringing of their children can benefit from the credit. None of us would stand over that.

On the substantive issue, amendment No. 14 in my name differs from the proposal brought forward by the Minister, Deputy Noonan, on Committee Stage. He provides that if one parent does not use the credit, that parent can relinquish that credit and provide it to the other parent in a manner prescribed by the Revenue. However, this does not provide for the splitting of the credit, which is the proposal I wish to make. I suggest that if one parent can use €1,000 of the €1,650 credit, the balance could be transferred to the other parent. The Minister's proposal in subsection (4) on page 20 provides that only one person can benefit from the credit. Will the Minister of State consider making a change so that if the primary claimant only uses a portion of the credit, the unused portion can be used by the secondary claimant? Doing this will still result in only one credit being used, but it will be shared in certain circumstances. This proposal will only benefit a portion of the people who will be affected by this section, but it would help some.

The Government has gone a bit of the way in this section following Committee Stage, but acceptance of my amendment would help more people and I ask the Minister of State to consider it.

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