Vol. 495 No. 2
141 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance if he will ensure that the 1998 budget includes benefits or tax relief to help reduce the cost of child care for pre-school children as outlined in An Action Programme for the Millennium. [19769/98]
The Government's policy programme, An Action Programme for the Millennium, contains a number of commitments with regard to support both for the family and also childcare.
In my 1998 budget speech last December I said that "it is not possible to introduce all the new measures one would wish in a single budget. I have examined carefully the possibility of a tax relief on child care at the standard rate of tax but have decided not to proceed with it this year. I will review the situation for my next budget in the light of the reports due next year from the Working Group on Childcare set up under Partnership 2000 and from the Household Review Group and the Commission on the Family set up by the previous Government".
The research and studies mentioned above are ongoing with the exception of the Report of the Commission on the Family, which was launched on 15 May last by the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs. When the other reports mentioned above become available to me later this year, I will then be in a position to give the issue of a tax relief to assist towards the costs of child care more informed consideration in the context of the forthcoming 1999 budget.
