THE STATE ‘SHOULD PAY GRANDPARENTS FOR CHILDMINDING’
Independent Alliance demand new childcare scheme in budget...
GRANDPARENTS who help mind their grandchildren so that parents can go to work should be paid up to €1,000 a year, the Independent Alliance has said.
In a pre-budget proposal, the grouping of Independent TDs in coalition has called for a Grandparent and Grandchild Expenses Reimbursement Scheme for those who care for their grandchildren for more than ten hours per week.
They want the measure to recognise the valuable contribution grandparents make in helping parents go to work. The proposal is one of a series of initiatives the TDs want to see introduced in the
upcoming budget in October.
The move would see grandparents get a once-yearly payment of between €500 and €1,000, and the Independent Alliance plans to make this a top priority for Budget 2019, according to sources.
Members of the Independent Alliance met with Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe yesterday to discuss the forthcoming budget, the third under its partnership government with Fine Gael.
During the meeting, the Independent TDs put forward proposals which they believe are ‘achievable’ and which will build on progress made over the past two years.
A survey by the Central Statistics Office last year found that 16% of children aged under 12 are minded by an unpaid relative or family friend.
The survey of 25,000 households found that just 3% of alternative childcare was being provided by a relative or family friend who is paid.
Sources close to the Independent Alliance told the Irish Daily Mail that the scheme is of ‘great importance’ to its members given the number of grandparents now childminding and believes it would ease the financial burden on strug- gling working families while also helping to support pensioners, who would get the equivalent of up to €83 extra a month under the scheme. ‘It’s not a case that every grandparent in the country will be able to qualify for this payment; this is for grandparents who look after their grandchildren,’ the source explained.
‘Grandparents will be able to apply for the payment if they care for their grandchildren for more than ten hours per week. The exact amount is being looked at but we would be talking of in the region of €500, maybe upwards, a year. Ideally €1,000 would be great but it all depends on Exchequer resources.
The source added: ‘The payment would be to help grandparents with the extra costs like heating their homes or extra fuel costs they incur while picking up children from school and then minding them until their parents come home from work.’
The issues raised with Minister Donohoe will be worked through in the coming weeks, said the group yesterday.
News of the proposed payment was broadly welcomed yesterday. A spokesman for Age Action Ireland, the advocacy group for older people, welcomed the announcement that this could be implemented in this year’s budget.
‘We would see the payment to grandparents as a positive move. Many grandparents are now actively caring for grandchildren while parents have to work, so any contribution to grandparents would be a welcome one,’ said Age Action.
Other groups to welcome the move include the Stay-At-Home Parents Association, which told the Mail last night that it welcomed the news but felt more could be done for stay-at-home parents. Spokeswoman Catherine Collins said: ‘We feel that a lot more could be done for the parents that stay at home to care for their children. Having said that, we don’t unwelcome the news that the Independent Alliance would like to see grandparents receive a payment for the expenses they incur. It’s a step in the right direction.’
However, not everyone agreed with the proposal.
Laura Erskine, of parenting website Mummy Pages, said: ‘What the Government need to do is pay this extra money to parents so they don’t have to rely on the grandparents.’
A recent study found that the average cost of full-time childcare has risen by €7 a week to €174.16 per child.
Among the other pre-budget proposals from the Independent Alliance are an increase in gambling tax to fund addiction services, an additional increase in the tax-free thresholds for gift and inheritance tax and a reintroduction of the bereavement grant of €850 to help with funeral costs.
‘Give money to parents instead’