Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

What is surprising is that yesterday Fine Gael called for this payment to be scrapped and replaced with a voucher system, which would be paid in respect of receipted child care payments. In other words, this would not go to families with stay-at-home parents minding their children. Leave aside for one moment that, on the basis of current case law, my advice is that it is far from clear such a payment would be exempt from EU regulations — that is a complex point of law and not one into which I intend to go here — but the Fine Gael proposal would take this €1,000 payment away from those parents who had made that choice.

Is that the best solution Fine Gael can come up with? In order to stop a few thousand hard working, taxpaying EU citizens receiving their entitlements, the same as any Irish worker, it would take this money away, not only from them, but from Irish mothers who have put their careers on hold and who have taken a hit on their family income in order to give their children what they consider to be the best start in life. Of course, we know this would never happen. Such a move would be unjust and, in the event Fine Gael ever found itself in Government, it is doubtful any of the many prospective partners which have been canvassed for it would support it in such a step. However, it is disappointing that it is threatening it.

Senator Terry reiterated the claim that the Government's estimated cost of this scheme did not include migrants with children in their home country. As I said, the costing of this payment was based on the take-up of child benefit. Child benefit includes migrants workers' children who remain abroad. Like any payment, the future costs of both payments have always been subject to a number of variables, including future birth rates, the number of children who travel with their migrant parents and the take-up. Both schemes will be monitored but the possibility that take-up will increase in the future should not prevent us making a payment now that will support parents.

Figures of €50 million and €150 million were plucked out of the air and broadcast by persons who subsequently admitted they did not have a clue how much this would cost, thus adding more heat than light to this debate. Indeed, the figure of €150 million is now stated to have included a possible future increased take-up by migrants of their child benefit entitlements totally unrelated to the introduction of this payment and based on unscientific figures. Quite how the child benefit system could be changed to exclude other EU-based children was not explained by any of the contributors to this debate and I suspect the statement was made without fully thinking it through. If it is now accepted that this entitlement is unaffected by the new payment and cannot be taken away from these workers, this debate would be an appropriate opportunity to say so and to accept this figure was unfounded.

I regret Senator Brian Hayes said the Taoiseach apologised for me, although I can understand how he was unintentionally misled into saying that by the parliamentary report in today's edition of The Irish Times. Of course, I do not believe any member of Fine Gael in this, or the other, House is a racist and I never suggested any such a thing. The Taoiseach also made it clear that he does not view any member of Fine Gael in that light or context. However, I said that on the basis of the production of this figure of €150 million in a press release circulated by the party, it seemed to be playing on racial card. If the public is told this vast sum of money is about to be spent on persons who reside overseas, to what else is that to amount?