Solution to childcare issue

Sir — Regarding the controversy relating to the so-called “granny grant”, could I try and bring what I consider to be a level of practicality and common sense to this issue?

I am a 75-year-old grandfather who, with my wife, devotes a substantial portion of our week to dropping, collecting, feeding and stimulating our grandchildren.

This can on the one hand be onerous and restricting, and yet on the other hand greatly rewarding for all involved. We would not have it any other way. However, I often wonder how couples who do not have the advantage of adjacent grandparents manage at all, considering the extra time and expense they have to devote to their children. Surely it’s they who need extra support, rather than those who have help near to hand.

The Government could not easily, or efficiently, differentiate between the different family situations.

To me the best solution would be, provided the funds are available (which I doubt), to increase children’s allowances and emphasise that the increase is intended for childcare and, where necessary, to compensate grandparents.

It would be up to individual families to use the increase as they thought fit. In this way, those with grandparents to help them and, who save substantially on childcare, would have the means to make a gesture to their parents and those who don’t have this help would have a little extra towards childcare.

The burden of funding this could be lessened were all those allowances meanstested. John White, Summerhill, Wexford