Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for making the position crystal clear so now we all know exactly where we stand. Would she agree with me that the universality of child benefit stems from the fact that we are talking about horizontal equity?

In other words, resources are taken from people without children and given to those with them because the latter obviously have more expenses. Any means-testing or taxing of the benefit would be contrary to the principle of horizontal equity.

The Minister stated that her focus was on increasing services such as childcare rather than increasing cash benefits. Does that mean that we are entering a situation in which the amount payable in child benefit will effectively be frozen for the foreseeable future as resources are directed more and more towards child services?

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