Vol. 428 No. 2
47 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Finance if, in the light of the commitment to increase child benefit to £20 per month, he has any plans to tax the increased benefit and to scale the benefit to take account of the varying costs of children of different ages.
As I said in my Budget Statement, the Government has decided to give priority to the support of families with dependent children. This is in line with the objectives in the Programme for a Partnership Government and the Programme for Economic and Social Progress. The rates for child benefit are scaled in accordance with the number of children. The increases which I announced in the budget, which will apply from September, will bring the rates of benefit up to £20 for the first three children and £23 for the fourth and subsequent children. The budget did not include any proposal to tax child benefit.
With regard to scaling the benefit with age, the Minister for Social Welfare has primary responsibility for child benefit policy but I am not aware of any such proposals.
