Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 9 Feb 1999

Vol. 500 No. 1

Written Answers - Tax Reliefs.

Seán Ryan

Question:

200 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to finance in part or in full the cost of tax relief on child care. [3587/99]

As I stated in my December Budget Statement the Government is conscious of the growing wish for a recognition of child care needs in the tax system. I took the opportunity in the Budget Statement to outline a number of the important and complex issues that the question of child care tax relief raises.

The first of these issues is the question of equity between parents who stay at home to care for children and those who have to meet additional child care expenses when they go out to work. There is also the need for a balanced treatment of those who are in the tax system and those who rely on social welfare benefits and for finding the right balance between neasures to help towards the cost of child care and measures to improve the supply and quality of child care facilities to meet the growing demand.

The Government has already discussed these issues in some detail and proposes to examine the matter further. Certain measures were announced in the budget to facilitate and encourage the supply of child care places and these will be provided for in the forthcoming Finance Bill. The Government will, of course, take into consideration the views of the interdepartmental committee which the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is establishing to evaluate the recommendations made by the varous expert groups that have reported on the child care issue. Any proposals in the taxation area arising from this committee's deliberations will be considered in the context of the preparation of the next budget.
Top
Share