Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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82. To ask the Minister for Finance if the incapacitated child tax credit will be restored in view of the fact it was reduced during the recession. [29511/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The legislation governing entitlement to the incapacitated child tax credit is contained in section 465 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as amended.  In broad terms, the credit is available to a parent who has custody of and maintains a child who is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity.  The cost of this tax credit in 2014, the most recent year for which full information is available, was €59 million, attributable to 20,300 claimants.

The incapacitated child tax credit was reduced in 2011 from €3,660 to €3,300 and has remained at that level since.  This reduction was in line with reductions in other personal tax credits in 2011, including the personal tax credit which was reduced from €1,830 to €1,650 and remains at this level. These measures were part of the efforts to rebalance the public finances, which are now bearing fruit as the Budget deficit is close to being eliminated.

Prudent fiscal management over the last five years has enabled me to introduce in three successive Budgets, reductions to the additional tax burden imposed on all taxpayers during the fiscal crisis.  It is my intention, as outlined in the Programme for Government, to continue to reduce the income tax burden faced by all taxpayers as part of a wider medium-term income tax reform plan that keeps the tax base broad, reduces excessive tax rates for middle income earners, and limits the benefit for high earners.  This will include consideration of options to restore the incapacitated child credit, along with other tax credits, to their former level, as fiscal resources allow.