Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am mentioning it now. We must learn from that and do it correctly. By leaving child benefit as a stand-alone office in Letterkenny, is this transactional service not a waste of time that could be moved through the taxation system? I am not saying these people in Letterkenny should not have jobs or be in the system, but they would be better deployed in places like MABS and community welfare. I spent some time with MABS yesterday and it is so squeezed it is on the verge of disaster. I know 15 more people have been appointed nationally but the Galway office alone could use 15 people there is such demand.

The two tier system would provide for anyone earning under ¤25,000 to get a top-up and I support that in principle because people need a certain amount of cash to be able to live. The cost of living here is very high. It is clear, however, as the Minister acknowledged, that the middle class is being screwed for working hard. The middle class pays all the bills and any system that is set up, be it two tier or taxation, must have allowable essential deductions. We must decide if a mortgage of ¤200,000 is allowable. A family with an income of less than ¤25,000 might live in local authority housing so the family who went out and paid for their home must be given credit for it. There must also be essential deductions for ESB and food. In a way, a person on ¤50,000 or ¤60,000 may have less net income after mortgage and expenses while a person on social welfare automatically gets benefits such as the medical card, which is worth a fortune. I meet families in the squeezed middle who are skipping doctors and, in particular, dental appointments. A teenager in a family could need dental work costing ¤2,000. The mother would be on to MABS wondering how to take care of that, and trying to deal with the bank through the MARPS process, which I am on record as saying is not working.

Ulster Bank has advised the family, through the mortgage arrears resolution process, to travel to Ballymena to have their teeth done. A family of five has been told it is excessive to spend ¤200 per week on food. Another person I know was told to sell the car and buy a bicycle to travel to work, even though it is not possible for the person in question to travel to work by bike.

We need joined up thinking on this issue. The system must be fair and cost as little as possible. The Minister should use departmental staff in the child benefit section in Letterkenny to establish a fair system. I do not understand the reason 90 staff are required in that section given that it will be possible, under the proposed new system, to operate child benefit through the taxation system. I propose that the Minister eliminate the administrative side of the section by adding child benefit payments to existing social welfare benefits or, in the case of families on low to middle incomes, by making the payment through the taxation system. The savings achieved should be used to provide a small top-up to low income families, that is, those who qualify on the basis of allowable essential deductions, and the remainder - approximately ¤200 million - invested in better child care and after-school services, specialist services for children with ADHD and dyslexia and creative centres for those children whom the education system does not reach.

Two years ago, I did a study of early school leaving for the Oireachtas, which showed that in some cases money spent early in a child's life delivers a return at a ratio of 9:1, in other words, every euro spent delivers a ¤9 return in later life. A 2006 report from the UCD Geary Institute attests to the importance of early investment to society as a whole, while a 2011 OECD report, Doing Better for Families, shows Ireland is second only to Switzerland among OECD countries in respect of the cost of child care. Poor children benefit from universal services. Let us stand together on this issue and ensure we get it right as to do so will change society for the better. We need to eliminate wasteful administration and make better use of staff across the public service.