Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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70. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of persons in receipt of the single person child carer tax credit for 2014; the way this compares to the number who received the one-parent family tax credit in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22049/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I have previously replied to the Deputy in detail in relation to the Single Person Child Carer Credit on 13 February 2014 in my response to Questions 7453, 7454 and 7455. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that for 2013, it is currently estimated that 76,800 individuals were in receipt of the One-Parent Family Tax Credit (i.e., in a position to utilise some or all of the tax credit to reduce their tax liabilities). As the Deputy is aware, the One-Parent Family Tax Credit was replaced with a new Single Person Child Carer Credit (SPCCC) from 1 January 2014. The new credit is targeted such that it is available only to the primary carer of the child. However, a primary claimant can relinquish it to a secondary claimant, an individual with whom the child must reside for not less than 100 days in the tax year.  A maximum of one credit is available per claimant, regardless of whether he or she cares for more than one child. This is the same condition that applied to the One-Parent Family Tax Credit.

It is currently estimated that 85,000 individuals have been granted the SPCCC to date in 2014, most granted automatically, as I previously explained.  Data on the number of taxpayers who ultimately receive the SPCCC - i.e. who are in a position to utilise some or all of the tax credit to reduce their tax liabilities - will not be available until after the end of the current tax year, so it is not possible to directly compare against the 2013 data for the One-Parent Family Tax Credit at this time.