Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, for taking this Topical Issue. The single person child carer credit has been raised with me by a number of fathers since the budget in October. We were waiting to see how it would work out because neither the Department of Finance nor the Revenue Commissioners was exactly sure how it would do so. Since their January wage slips have been processed it is quite obvious to the gentlemen who approached me how it will work out.

Everybody who contacted me completely agrees and understands why the credit needed to be reorganised. In some instances we were paying on the double or triple.

Consequently, I completely concur that the merit behind the credit is to recognise that families which split up have twice the expenses of a normal family that is still living under the same roof. However, the issue of how the credit is being distributed, or rather not being distributed, is a cause of major concern and, in some cases, serious angst on the part of some fathers. The manner in which it has worked out is that the credit of €1,650 is only attributable to the primary carer and the Revenue Commissioners are determining the primary carer is the parent who is receiving children's allowance. In the vast majority of cases, that parent happens to be the mother. With respect - I acknowledge this is a delicate matter - in a great number of such cases, the relationships are not good because, obviously, things did not end well and they ended badly for a reason. The relationship and communications between parents on this credit are not as easy or straightforward as the Revenue Commissioners appear to think. In their view, the mother gets the credit, the mother and the father should be able to speak to each other and work something out with regard to maintenance and thereafter, it is Bob's your uncle. The reality is completely and entirely different. I believe it had been thought the €1,650 could be shared by the Revenue Commissioners on the basis on the proportion of time a parent had the child. I will provide a particular instance in which a gentleman has his children for 40% of the time, while the mother has them for 60% of the time. However, the father must still maintain the three-bedroom house, with heating and so on. Any reduction in these circumstances from the father's perspective would curtail completely and reduce his access to his children, which is obviously not a runner from his perspective. Moreover, it definitely is not a runner from a State policy perspective. Therefore, I ask the Minister to give serious consideration to allowing the Revenue Commissioners to redistribute and share the allowance because this is not possible at present. It either must go to the primary carer or the primary carer who, in most cases, will be the mother must give up the allowance and allow the father to have it. In practice, that is not happening.

This will have two effects. First, it can reduce the father's income and, therefore, have a genuine impact on his access to his children. He may not be able to afford the travel expenses to and from his children or be able to maintain the accommodation he needs to have access to the children. Second, given that mothers, in many cases, do not earn the €16,000 needed to avail of the entire €1,650 credit, they will suffer because the father will be obliged to incur expenses to bring the case back to the court to have the maintenance reduced to reflect his reduced salary and, in such a case, the mother will experience a reduction in maintenance payments from the father. Therefore, I ask for greater thought and consideration to be given to the distribution of this credit. In particular, I ask this given that families will incur almost equal costs when they attempt to maintain two homes to be able to maintain access to the children from the perspective of both the mother and the father.

I merely seek fairness and equality, not to make a moot point; the letters and correspondence I have received have been extremely emotional. A number of fathers who have spoken to me believe the Government is discriminating against them completely. In essence, based on the manner in which the credit is being distributed, I would be obliged to agree with them. I sincerely ask the Government to give further thought to this issue and allow distribution of the credit.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I was involved in the Committee Stage debate on the last Finance Bill and recall this was an issue of considerable discussion both for the select committee and during the plenary session of the House. At the time the Minister for Finance gave a commitment to the House that he would consider the operation of the new credit to make sure it was operating in the fairest way possible. As the Deputy will be aware, the new single person child care credit is of the same value, that is, €1,650, as the previous one parent family credit. It also carries the same entitlement to the extended standard rate tax band of €36,800 per annum. The new credit is targeted such that it is available only to the claimant who is the principal carer of the child, that is, the individual with whom the child resides and who looks after the child for the year or the greater part of the year. A maximum of one credit is available per single carer claimant, regardless of whether he or she cares for more than one child.

Given the difficult fiscal environment, it is essential that all tax reliefs, credits and incentives are kept under review in order to ensure they are properly targeted and, if necessary, refocused in order that they can achieve the objectives all Members seek. The one parent family credit was in certain cases being claimed by multiple individuals in respect of a single child. I recognise this point was raised by the Deputy in the initial part of her contribution. A system that allows multiple claims in respect of the same child is unsustainable in current budgetary circumstances. It is important to point out that the new credit has been designed to work as an activation measure and is to be an in-work benefit to support the primary carer to take up, maintain or remain in employment. It will assist single parents or carers with the cost of child care.

In addition, it should be noted that this new policy has been agreed to by the Government based on a recommendation brought forward by the Commission on Taxation that the credit should be retained but that it should be confined to the principal carer only. The Government is satisfied that the restructuring of the credit will achieve such an outcome. In the first instance, it is the responsibility of the parents to look after a child, including financially. Tax credits should not be considered a supplementary source of income or an alternative to the financial support of a parent. It is worth pointing out that where a principal carer is married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting, he or she will not be entitled to the new credit or indeed the former one. In such circumstances, the principal carer cannot relinquish the credit to a secondary carer. In addition, a secondary claimant who is married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting will not be entitled to the new credit or indeed the former one, regardless of the marital status of the primary carer.

The single person child carer credit initially is granted to the principal carer. This usually is the parent who receives child benefit in respect of the child from the Department of Social Protection. In these circumstances, the Government believes the approach it has taken, difficult as it is, attempts to restructure this tax credit in such a way as to help people to get back to work and, equally, to help people who need that support. As the Deputy noted, the Government is conscious and aware of the fact that many such relationships which break up on an acrimonious basis must be handled sensitively. The Minister for Finance did give a commitment to the House which I will reiterate today, namely, that the Government will consider the operation of the credit this year to ascertain whether it can be improved and establish whether it can be tapered in such a way as to maximise the benefit for those concerned. The matter is under active review, as are all such credits. This was the intention with the original objective, as set out in the Bill.

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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That response was very comforting because, without being rude, I had expected the Minister of State to tell me it was a done deal and would not be reviewed. Consequently, I am greatly comforted that it is under active review. What is the expected time during which the concerns raised with me and, equally, the Review Commissioners will be taken into consideration? When would changes or modifications made to the credit come into effect? Would it be necessary to wait until the passage of the finance Bill at the end of this year or does the Minister of State think mid-term amendments would be made to it? Such amendments in the first instance would allow for cases in which there was no agreement between the two parents as to who should have the credit before forcing fathers to go back to the High Court or the District Court to get changes in maintenance payments, thereby incurring all of the additional expense, which, obviously, is something no one desires. The second instance is where the mother is not earning €16,000 to enable her to take advantage of the entire €1,650 credit with the result that neither parent is winning. While I am greatly comforted to hear this matter is under active review, the Minister of State should indicate when he expects changes, if any, to be made. Would this happen sooner rather than later?

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, any change, obviously, will occur in the finance Bill which is published directly after the annual budgetary process in October and November. The Government must ascertain in discussions with Revenue how this measure has progressed this year. My understanding is that somewhere between 13,000 and 15,000 people have been affected by this change. It is also worth pointing out that one amendment introduced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, in the course of Committee Stage of the Finance Bill reduced that number by approximately 2,000, whereby secondary claimants could claim the credit if the primary claimant was unable or did not wish to avail of it.

The Minister has already shown some flexibility in this regard in the original amendment. We will look at it again and, in discussion with Revenue, see how many people have been affected by this. From the information I have I understand that approximately 76,000 individuals availed of the one-parent family tax credit. That includes everybody, but not everybody can claim the maximum because of their income level. Of the 76,000, 24,000 were single males, a significant cohort of people, as the Deputy rightly brings to the attention of the House, so we will have to examine it this year in discussions with Revenue. If a committee of the House were also to investigate the issue this year we would re-examine it given the circumstances in which many men find themselves.

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister.