Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As for the ¤200 million, which as a reforming Minister she undoubtedly would wish to use much along the lines she has outlined in her presentation, it simply would be taken in and absorbed by the Exchequer, as has happened since 2009. Expenditure on child benefit under the previous Administration decreased from ¤2.5 billion to ¤2.1 billion, which is a decrease of half a billion euro, from 2009 to 2011. During the period in which the advisory group was pursuing its work, child benefit was cut by a further ¤70 million in the 2012 budget and ¤140 million in the most recent budget. This comprises a further ¤210 million or another words, more than ¤700 million has been cut from child benefit since 2009 with absolutely no reform of any sort. However, I compliment the Minister on at least setting up this committee because as I stated earlier, I have deep respect for the Minister's reforming views, at least it is a start. As has been observed, these cuts were just that, namely, cuts and not reforms. There were no compensation measures to soften the blow and this has been the reason there has been so much anger over these particular proposals arising from the Mangan report. Speaking personally and perhaps not necessarily for a position taken by my party, I have thought for a long time that there is an urgent need to reform the entire area of child benefit.

It looks like a cycle that commenced in the boom years, which increased child benefit year-on-year, to the extent that at some point it became astronomical yet no distinction was made between those who could afford not to take child benefit and those who needed it. Although successive Governments from 2002 to 2007 and beyond did implement a capital programme of enhancement of child care provision, which was the envy of all and much good money was spent from 1997 onwards of which we have seen the benefit, there does not seem to have been an appetite for reform of the child benefit system. The view seemed to be that we should just keep shovelling out more money in child benefit in order to ensure that everyone would be happy. However, the cost of living increased ? it went through the roof ? and in many cases child care costs became even more expensive than mortgage repayments.

The latest survey on living and income conditions shows that from 2009 to 2011, consistent child poverty increased from 8.7% to 9.3% and child deprivation rates rose from 25% to 32%. More than 100,000 children now experience consistent poverty. Ireland is the only OECD country with above average child cash transfers but only average child poverty rates. The Minister referred to that in terms of the Scandinavian model. I know where she is coming from in that regard. I agree with her. One thing that could be done almost immediately would be to introduce a second year of the early childhood care and education scheme.

I accept the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, has already spoken on the record on the matter. She also set off a timebomb when she suggested that child benefit money should be redirected into a different area such as support services rather than having universal payment. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, shares the view. Such an approach could be implemented on a staggered basis but it is not something that could be done with the current fiscal problems that face the Government. That is the main reason most of the commentary on the report has been negative. All one can see is not reform but more cuts and the money disappearing into the black hole of the Exchequer in order to shore up the deficit. Surely the Minister will be faced in the coming months with yet more demands from her Department, which is a big-spending Department, to address the removal of another ¤2.5 billion to ¤3 billion from the economy in the next budget. The Minister has said on record that the promissory note money should be used, but as we all know, even if it could be used, the money will not come on-stream until next year. The budget must be framed for 2014 in the coming months under the Estimates. I have no doubt that the hovering vultures of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will come to her Department to demand more money on the basis that it has not given enough.

It is a sad reflection on society in general, not on the Minister personally or the Government, that in 2010 one quarter of children lived in jobless households. The total of 56% of Irish adults in jobless households with children compares with the EU average of 24%, which is a scandal. The central proposal in the Mangan report was to retain universal child benefit and to develop a new second-tier payment to replace child dependant additions. A flexible model was proposed on which the Minister has gone into detail in her presentation. Unfortunately, I do not have time to go into detail on the proposal. According to Mary Murphy, the illustrative figures in the Mangan report of ¤25 per week for child benefit and ¤38 per week for the second-tier payment have been "roundly and justifiably critiqued" as too low.

I wish the Minister well in terms of what she is attempting to do but I do not believe that what will happen in the short term is what she is setting out to achieve. I do not expect the proposals to be implemented, but if they are, I urge the Minister to fight to maintain the ¤200 million rather than let it disappear into the budget on the basis of having ¤200 million less to pay back to whoever it is we are supposed to pay it back to. I wish the Minister well in that regard. I hope she will be back in this House to tell us more about her reforming initiatives in that regard because such changes can only be implemented on a piecemeal basis. That underlies the problem of the recommendations in the Mangan report.