Ross: No granny grant backlash
His call for a ‘granny grant’ caused fury this week: but Shane Ross’s wife Ruth Buchanan is fully behind it. And while they have six grandchildren, she insists it isn’t special pleading...
SHANE Ross has claimed he hasn’t ‘seen any pushback at all’ to his proposal for a €1,000 ‘granny grant’ that has received widespread condemnation.
The Independent Alliance made a prebudget submission this week calling on the Government to pay the annual allowance to grandparents who look after their grandchildren for more than ten hours a week.
But the proposal was roundly criticised by Government TDs and senators, Opposition parties and childcare groups. However, Minister Ross claimed to be oblivious to such criticisms, and insisted he will continue to push for what he called a ‘novel idea’.
‘I haven’t seen any pushback at all,’ he remarked yesterday. ‘We’re going to continue to push for it. It’s an idea which I think recognises the role that grandparents are playing in childminding and it’s not something that I’ve noticed any big pushback at all on.’
It was then put to the Minister that observers had noted the plan was poorly thought out, ill-defined in terms of who would be eligible for the payment and could end up costing the taxpayer more to administer than it would give to the people concerned.
He replied: ‘There are lots of questions which are being asked. We brought this as a preliminary idea and we gave it to [Finance Minister] Paschal Donohoe. He’s going away, he’s going to cost it in the Department of Finance and we’re going to thrash it out from there.
‘It’s something that can be adapted. But at the moment as an idea and as a concept, we think it’s very novel.’ But Fine Gael TD Noel Rock told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘I’m not sure which doors the Independent Alliance are knocking on that they aren’t getting any pushback. The detail for this policy could fit on the back of a postage stamp.’
‘The grant won’t fix the childcare problem’
WHEN he announced his ‘granny grant’ proposal this week, Independent TD Shane Ross would have been expecting support from many grandparents across the country, relieved that at last they are being recognised for the vital help and support they give their families. One grandmother in particular he knew he could count on was his wife Ruth Buchanan. She and Shane have two children, Rebecca and Hugh, and six grandchildren aged between four and 18. Rebecca, a stay-at-home mother, has four children aged between 10 and 18 while Hugh has two young children.
‘When Shane first mentioned the idea I thought “uh-oh!” she reveals. ‘But then I thought some more about it,’ says Ruth. ‘Now I think it’s a great idea and it’s not as if it’s going to cost the State a lot of money.
‘€1,000 is not a lot but it’s better than nothing and gives recognition to grandparents who look after their grandchildren because really, the State — as far as these people are concerned — doesn’t give a damn.’
Earlier this week, Ross’s Independent Alliance proposed a €1,000 annual payment for grandparents who help to care for their grandchildren. The self-assessed payment would be available to all grandparents who care for their grandchildren for more than ten hours a week, in recognition of the work they do.
It was described as a ‘grandparent and grandchild expenses reimbursement scheme’ which grandparents would apply for through the Department of Social Protection but would not be required to provide vouched expenses to receive the payment.
It was also subsequently announced that the scheme could be extended to aunts, uncles or other family members who help to care for young children within their family.
Ross’s ‘granny grant’ proposal has faced a substantial backlash, not only from Fine Gael and opposition parties but from organisations representing older people in Ireland like Age Action, and many grandparents who currently look after their grandchildren.
Ross was accused of hunting the ‘grey vote’ with the proposal and critics have argued that the proposal is flawed on various fronts. They say the amount offered is too low, that money should be given directly to stay-at-home mothers instead of grandparents and that there could be tax and other implications for grandparents.
Ruth, however, believes that while it’s not a flawless plan, it’s more than the Government has been doing to solve the childcare crisis.
‘We’ve waited years for an official, affordable childcare system but unless the Government steps in, such a system is not going to be possible because crèches are so expensive to run in terms of insurance, and health and safety. Until such a time as the country is in a position to provide affordable childcare, grandparents are very much in demand.’
She acknowledges that there are major issues surrounding the cost of childcare provision and the cost of living for young families in Ireland but believes grandparents should still be recognised for their contribution, without which many parents wouldn’t be able to return to the workplace.
‘The grant is not going to fix the childcare problem or the fact that mortgages and the cost of living in Ireland are so expensive. And yes those things have to be worked at,’ she says.
‘But it’s a start, a fresh beginning which could lead to much better things — people shouldn’t be too quick to refuse it just because it’s too little.
‘I’m still a union member and I remember negotiating for better money when I worked in RTÉ. The thinking was, even if you aren’t getting what you want, take it, then later on when things change for the better you can get more.
‘That’s how I see this grant — as a start. Maybe Paschal Donohoe’s arm can be twisted to give more later on.’
As a journalist and broadcaster, Ruth covered religious and social affairs, often witnessing poverty as she worked on stories. She particularly recalls the hardship endured by single mothers she met in Dublin during the 1990s.
She believes this proposal is aimed at and will help poorer sections of Irish society.
‘Shane comes home very affected from the poverty he sees in his work,’ she says. ‘His constituency isn’t poor but there are pockets of it, social housing estates where people are tough and keep smiling but are being put to the pin of their collar. You can see that they need something and I think that’s where Shane is coming from with the grant proposal, to help poorer people.
‘If there are people opposed to the grant, I would say they are likely to be fairly well-off.’
Ruth says that she wouldn’t claim the grant herself because she doesn’t look after her grandchildren for ten hours or more a week.
‘It’s more like once or twice a month for a few hours which is nothing,’ she says. ‘Our son Hugh and his wife both work and can afford childminders but holiday times are difficult.
‘I step in if a childminder is sick or if I’m needed for a few hours at lunchtimes, but it’s not very often.
‘Grandparents provide a special service looking after their grandchildren and that should be recognised.’
Quite aside from the question of whether it is fair to those families where there are no living grandparents – who some might argue actually need the money more as they have no childcare backup – the proposal has also led many people to ask why stay-at-home parents, who have sacrificed a salary to raise children, should get nothing under the plan. It is a point which Ruth largely accepts.
‘My daughter Rebecca is a stayat-home mother, she gave up working as a teacher after the birth of her first child and it would be difficult for her to return to work now.
‘She and her husband can’t really afford for her to stay at home — they’re not well off and their eldest child will go to third level next year. So it would help if she worked but her ten-year-old son still needs her at home — he’s so used to life as it is, it would be a shame if that had to change.
‘I can’t see how anyone would disagree with stay-at-home mothers getting grants. They provide a huge service to the State, working up to 16 hour days in the home, it’s tough. Often they might want a job but it’s not financially feasible to have one.’
‘They should be acknowledged and the issue should be looked into,’ says Ruth – before adding loyally ‘but not instead of the grandparent grant Maybe the grandparent grant will instigate other things, maybe it will be a great thing.’
Ruth is conscious of the hard work many grandparents put into caring for their grandchildren, often for no financial return.
‘Because I do it so little, looking after my grandchildren is a joy. If it was every day it would be different,’ she says. ‘I love picking them up from school or bringing them for lunch but every time I look after them it costs money for petrol and lunches. It’s a nice thing to be able to do and I can afford to do it but many people can’t and they’re the people Shane is talking about. The €1,000 could help to offset expenses for grandparents.
‘I do think some grandparents are being paid a bit by their children but many are doing it for nothing and the grant is really about helping people who are genuinely hard-pressed — women, single mothers who have to go out to work in lower paid jobs and really depend on the grandparents to look after their children.
‘I was in an ideal position when my children were young, I worked odd hours and Shane was very good about being there when I had to go off on a job, and vice versa. I was knocked down by a car once and remember my mother racing straight over to look after the children. Most grandparents are like that, they want to help out.
‘But very few would want to look after their grandchildren full-time. It’s tiring. I remember Shane and I had three of our grandchildren for two nights when we were younger, we were wrecked afterwards.
‘But many now don’t have a choice. I know women who are clearly too old to be looking after children but are doing it on a daily basis because there’s no one else to do it. They help out because they want their own children and their grandchildren to do well.’
One criticism of Ross’s proposal is that if a child has four grandparents who help out with childcare, all four could claim the grant.
‘I think it’s unlikely that there’ll be cases where four grandparents claim for the care of one child,’ says Ruth. ‘You might have a grandmother and grandfather looking after one child and the second set of grandparents looking after another child but I don’t think there’ll be four grandparents looking after one child and all claiming the grant.
‘There might be a system of spot checks but it’s very early days, the whole proposal has to be worked out. I’d also imagine the grant will be tax-free — there are lots of cases where income is tax-free, such as letting out a room in your home, up to a point.’
But even the supremely supportive Ruth can’t deny that, at least in part, the scheme is also aimed at getting her husband re-elected.
‘As for the accusation that Shane is hunting the grey vote with this proposal, I have to be honest, all politicians are hunting every vote there is and you can’t blame them.,’ she says. ‘I used to be very cynical in my day but now realise what politicians have to go through.
‘It’s a tough old game.’
‘It could help offset expenses for grandparents’