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

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, which was reasonably positive and I accept it in good faith. As he will know, under the existing arrangements, it is possible in certain circumstances for the primary carer to transfer the credit in full to the secondary carer. That would arise if, for example, the primary carer does not have any employment income and has no use for the tax credit as such. The transfer of the full credit requires the consent of the primary carer. That can create difficulties on occasion. When relationships breakdown, it is not always amicable.

In regard to the thrust of my proposal, I accept what the Minister of State has said and I will not press the amendment. I hope the Minister will examine this in good faith to see if it is possible. The idea is that if one parent does not have enough of a tax liability to use all of the credit, the other parent, who meets all of the normal qualifying conditions, can benefit from the reminder of it. That is an objective we should seek to achieve.

See this speech in context