When I discussed this matter with a constituent who has not been eligible for child benefit for a decade or more, he was surprised and pleased to note the huge strides made in recent years in terms of bringing these payments up to acceptable levels. He contrasted the current situation to that of the 1980s Fine Gael-Labour coalition which not only failed to adequately maintain the child benefit allowance at the time, but also removed the tax free allowances which were of major benefit to parents. He lamented the fact that he is not rearing his children in the current child benefit regime. He felt life is currently considerably easier financially than in the cash-strapped days of the coalition Government to which I refer.