David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

The only part of this section with which I can agree is the change in the definition of "spouse" to include "civil partner or cohabitant". Apart from this, I must oppose the thrust of what the Minister is trying to do. The section cuts the half rate qualified child increase for people on invalidity pension or contributory pension or in receipt of carer's benefit.

The Minister has said that in the budget the Government has protected carers. Many carers are concerned about this cut. Senator Paschal Mooney has observed that this measure could act as a disincentive for people to go to work. Ministers talk all the time about the need to change the social welfare system to remove poverty traps which cause people to lose benefits if they take a low-paid job that pays €400 or €450 a week and act as a disincentive to seeking work. This measure could have that impact.

Will the Minister clarify the following point? If a person is in receipt of carer's benefit, his or her spouse is earning €420 or €430 a week and the couple have two or three children, will the discontinuation of the half rate qualified child increase apply to all children? If so, it will be approximately €15 per child. In such a household with three children the cut will amount to €45 a week. In this way, the measure could force many more families into poverty. It could also, as previous speakers said, act as a disincentive for people to go to work. In that sense, this is a regressive measure.