THE GREAT ‘GRANNY GRANT’ BACKLASH!
Knives are out for Independent Alliance as its plan to ‘pay’ grandparents €19.20 a week for minding grandchildren is branded ‘insulting, ludicrous kite-flying’
AN Independent Alliance proposal that grandparents should be paid for minding their grandchildren has been ridiculed as a ‘pathetic attempt to resolve Ireland’s ongoing crisis in childcare provision’.
On Tuesday, the Alliance called on the Government to pay grandparents who help care for their grandchildren up to €1,000 a year.
In a pre-budget proposal, the grouping of Independent TDs called for a Grandparent and Grandchild Expenses Reimbursement Scheme for those who care for their grandchildren for more than ten hours per week.
However, the proposal faced fierce criticism yesterday when Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson on justice, children and youth affairs, Senator Lorraine CliffordLee dismissed the proposal as a ‘mere immature kite-flying’.
‘An annual payment of €1,000 will give the princely sum of €19.20 per week to grandparents; hardly an appropriate recognition of the sacrifice and dedication involved in caring for children.
‘Neither will it in any way reduce childcare costs for struggling families, who are burdened with astronomical childcare costs, often thousands of euro each month.’
She said the subsidy proposal of under €20 a week was an ‘insult’ to grandparents and called for childcare for hard-working parents to be well-funded by the State.
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, sources told the Irish Daily Mail this week.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Today with Miriam, Alliance member and Transport Minister Shane Ross defended the plan, saying the subsidy would be recognition of the great sacrifices grandparents are making caring for their grandchiildren: ‘It would be as much a reimbursement as it would be a recognition that thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of grandparents in the State are doing a job that maybe the State should be doing itself, and they’re making great sacrifices.
‘What they’re (grandparents) doing is they’re allowing mothers and fathers to go back into the workforce, whether it’s part time or full time.’
But Senator Clifford Lee said: ‘This so-called “Grandparent and ‘Silly season’: Sen. Clifford-Lee Grandchild Expenses Reimbursement Scheme” is a rather pathetic attempt to resolve Ireland’s ongoing crisis in childcare provision.
‘Rather than put forward a wellthought-out policy to increase the availability of affordable childcare, the Independent Alliance has thrown out what can only be described as an insult to the hundreds of thousands of parents and grandparents who are caring for children.
‘The shortage of childcare places has become a major issue in many parts of Ireland, my own included. Parents across the country are already being told that they cannot avail of their child’s ECCE [Early Childhood Care and Education] entitlement, owing to the lack of spaces in crèches.
‘This proposal would do absolutely nothing to address this deficit. Relying on grandparents, who have likely worked all of their lives, to sort out childcare is a last resort for parents and adds stress to family relationships.’
Senator Clifford-Lee said the Independent Alliance and their partners in Government ‘need to get real about the scale of Ireland’s childcare crisis and take meaningful steps to address it’.
She continued: ‘They should be examining tangible proposals to help families rather than emphasising the need to turn to grandparents. Families in Ireland deserve a well-funded childcare sector that is easily accessible and affordable for all.’
Labour Party representative for Dún Laoghaire in Dublin, Deirdre Kingston has said the proposals for the so-called ‘granny grant’ ‘smacks of desperation from the Independent Alliance and it is clear that they do not have a grasp of the problems that parents have when it comes to accessing affordable childcare.
‘It is clear that silly season is well under way with Shane Ross presenting proposals today for a €1,000 grant for grandparents who look after their grandchildren for more than ten hours a week.
‘While we cannot underestimate the role many grandparents across the country play in looking after their grandchildren, it is ludicrous to propose a scheme like this when so many parents are struggling to access a form of adequate and affordable childcare.
‘While some are lucky to have access to their parents who are willing to look after their children, this is not the case for everyone.
‘What is needed is meaningful investment in the childcare and Early Years’ sector.’
She continued: ‘It’s time now for Minister Zappone to intervene and nip this short-sighted proposal in the bud and outline how exactly she plans to improve the Early Years sector for the benefit of both parents and those who dedicate themselves to the sector.’
The Stay-At-Home Parents’ Association yesterday called for the proposal to be amended to ‘bring parents who care for children at home in to the net’.
‘Parents need the subsidy themselves’ ‘Clearly don’t grasp scale of problem’
‘They are best placed to make the choice as to who cares for their children.’
RTÉ Liveline listener Anne Moore told the show that the proposal was an attempt to win votes from older people.
She is also concerned that the scheme will be taken advantage of, and that grandparents will claim the grant money for parents.
‘I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,’ Ms Moore said. ‘All of those parents will be claiming it for the four grandparents.’
Addressing the issue of means, Minister Ross admitted: ‘It is selfassessment, or it certainly would be initially. It is not unique in the Department of Social Protection for payments to be self-assessed. I don’t anticipate this being abused any more than anything else.’
Grandmother Emily Finn, who looks after three of her grandchildren for one-and-a-half days every week, was also critical of the proposal.
She told Liveline: ‘Most grandparents do it because they like doing it, they enjoy doing it. I don’t need that €1,000. I know some people might, but I’m happy not to have it. I don’t think that it’s been properly thought out and if the Government don’t even know how many grandparents are in the country, how can they cost this?’
A large majority of Liveline listeners appear to also oppose the proposed grant.
In a five-minute text poll carried out by the show yesterday, 80% of respondents said that they did not support the proposal.
THE Independent Alliance’s plan for a ‘granny grant’ is fundamentally and fatally flawed, mostly because it is completely unworkable.
The proposal, the Grandparent and Grandchildren Expenses Reimbursement Scheme, to give it its correct title, would see grannies and grandads receive annual payments of around €1,000 if they looked after their children’s children.
The first and most obvious flaw is: how would you police it? How would you stop bogus claims from people claiming they minded children, when they didn’t? What about people who claimed to be grandparents even when they were not? If a couple had two children, could they pretend one set of grandparents minded their daughter, while the other minded their son? If a parent’s sibling minded the children, would he or she get the payment, too?
And, of course, it automatically discriminates against those whose parents live a long distance away, and who are compelled to use other forms of childcare, and doubly discriminates against those who have no family at all. It does nothing to acknowledge the sacrifice of the 200,000-plus parents, mostly women, who have given up work to stay home and look after their children themselves.
In short, it is the sort of ludicrous political stunt Fianna Fáil used to attempt to pull off in the bad old days.
It is useful though, in that it opens up the debate about parenting, and how best to support mothers, fathers and children. The single best way to do so is to make one single payment to parents, and then allow them to decide how best to use that money, whether that be on crèche fees, a childminder, an au pair, a family member, or simply to help compensate for the loss of earnings when one parent willingly leaves the workforce, or has no other option.
But we already have a vehicle to do this, one that is universal and fair, and that is the children’s allowance.
If the State wishes to introduce proper free childcare along Scandinavian lines, so much the better. But in the absence of any desire to do so, the only option is to give the money to parents themselves. Increase the children’s allowance payments – and let the parents decide.