Why Children's Allowance is not negotiable

Rumours of Government plans to tax Children's Allowance are the latest distressing hint that supporting families is no longer on the agenda KathrynHolmquist

What is she like? Model and actress Liz Hurley has found the perfect way to cover her post-pregnancy stretchmarks. That shiny black swimsuit with the sides cut out that she was splashed all over the British tabloids wearing last week is the classic little Hurley number; it started life as a conventional garment, then had bits slashed away until there was very little left. In this case, the swimsuit has been ingeniously designed to cover that awkward middle line of the abdomen where the sags and marks of pregnancy show. By hanging languidly from a piece of gym equipment, she manages to stretch her tummy further to eliminate sagging.

It's not unlike the Government's approach to services for children. Start out with a package that promises to covers all bases, than systematically erode the fabric until only the essentials are covered. Hope the spin-doctors can improve the cosmetic appearance and that parents won't notice.

And when we parents are stretched to the limit, we're supposed to cheerfully cover the deficiencies while saying: "Thanks very much, Bertie, you're a great guy, sorry for your economic troubles." Education is being cut by €36 million and these cuts are targeted at young people who are socio-economically disadvantaged and less likely to vote.

These are the same young people who haven't gone to the elite secondary schools that feed Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin.

And now we hear whispers that the Children's Allowance may be taxed. The Government should remember that a previous regime fell under the decision to tax children's shoes.

The Children's Allowance is like Liz Hurley's swimsuit - covering the bases that Government policy won't touch. Childcare, for example. Families are spending 20 per cent of their income, on average, on childcare, compared to an eight per cent average in the rest of the EU. This financial burden for families reflects the neglect of the sector for the past 25 years.

The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) says it is "appalled" and "dismayed" at the whispers of Children's Allowance cuts: "Despite the very welcome planned Government expenditure of €440 million until 2006, the childcare sector continues to be seriously under-developed... the planned investment is just a beginning and will only result in a fully developed childcare sector with ongoing and increased Government investment," says Joanne McMinn, director of the NWCI.

I can still hear the soothing voice of Micheál Martin when I spoke with him five months ago in the run-up to the last general election. When I asked him what Fianna Fáil intended to do about the childcare crisis, he replied that his party had already achieved their goal. They had already increased the Childcare Allowance in the past three Budgets and would continue to do so. This was to subsidise childcare costs by boosting the Children's Allowance paid to mothers. This allowance was also meant to address child poverty - which affects one in five children in this State - and to compensate families affected by the individualisation of taxation. Some swimsuit.

The Children's Allowance covers even more than that. It also goes towards compensating parents for the appalling lack of psychological services, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy for children with special needs. Any parent in this situation will tell you that you spend months and even years on waiting lists, finally get your clinic appointment, and then are told that the services your child needs are not available.

I know psychologists in private practice who are fed up subsidising the Government by providing urgent assessments for children who cannot otherwise get them. When parents cannot afford to pay, these psychologists do not charge. Then they refer children to services where, everybody knows, the required therapies are likely to be unavailable anytime soon.

Paying privately for a whole range of things for children with special needs puts unbearable financial strain on families. At least the Children's Allowance covers some of the cost. There are other allowances available, but you cannot get them until you have all your assessments done.

So it's Catch 22.

Children's Allowance also helps pay for the costs of schooling. Books, uniforms, extra-curricular activities and "donations" can easily come to €1,500 for a family with several children. If you want to enrich your child's life with Irish dancing, music, swimming - a whole range of activities - that's more money you have to pay to the private sector.

UNIVERSITY education may be "free", but parents are still getting bills for €700 and more per term for "extras" not regarded as part of the "free" education.

Another issue is that for many women on social welfare, the Children's Allowance is the only money they get directly into their hands. Someone in the family may drink away the social-welfare cheque, but at least the Children's Allowance is there to buy school books and food.

So what's happened to justify a tax on the Children's Allowance? Is childcare now available free from the Government? Has child Poverty disappeared? Have waiting lists for assessment and services for children with special needs been eradicated? Is an entirely new and innovative approach to childcare about to be unveiled by Mr Martin? I don't think so.

Even the thought that the Government would seriously consider taxing the Children's Allowance shows how remarkably out of touch they are with family life. They just want us to stay out there working and paying our taxes and making the fundamental unit of society work without practical support.

"Just when the possibility of genuinely eliminating child poverty and genuinely supporting parents in paying for childcare were on the horizon, the Government is planning to betray them," says McMinn. "We will not stand by and watch the Government scapegoat children and women." Nor should we parents allow ourselves to be scapegoated.