Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The reply has clarified some points but not others. I would refer to a paragraph in the reply, which states:

In the first instance, it is the responsibility of the parents to look after a child, including financially. Tax credits should not be considered a supplementary source of income, or an alternative to the financial support of a parent.

Of course they should not but people were availing of this credit and they were basing their maintenance payment on the income they had, but now their income has been substantially reduced. It was not that they were taking this credit as a source of income but that their net pay has been substantially reduced. That statement is a little harsh in inferring that people that they were looking for the credit as a supplementary payment - they were not. They were taking what was available to them and using it,and it was the law of the land. The Minister of State is right in that this credit is open to a high level abuse and there have been cases of people pretending to be separated in order to avail of it. I know of a family where the three children in the family have three different fathers and each of them were availing of this credit. They did so - this is the crux of the issue - because there was no monitoring or follow-up on it. All they had to say to the tax office was that the child was staying with them overnight. I note it is stated that it would be a breach of data protection to give the credit to the second carer but it is not easy for someone to get written permission to avail of the tax credit. The Minister of State has said that the second carer does not have to get permission from the first carer but that the first carer can surrender credit to the tax office but we should be realistic about this in that we will have to ask that parent to go to the tax office and surrender the tax credit. Such people will not do it voluntary especially if the break-up is not amicable.

I am not happy with the answer but unfortunately it is one I have got. We have gone backwards on this. We are going back to the old days where a husband had to sign off on his wife's tax free allowance. I thought that day was gone but obviously not. I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to take this matter.