The Constitution may be a barrier to removing child benefit from high-earning households, Minister for Social Protection Eamon Ó Cuív (pictured) has said.

Mr O’Cuiv was reacting to suggestions the Government could follow the example of the British Chancellor, George Osborne, who has announced that higher earners would no longer be paid child benefit.

Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews has said changes to child benefit for higher income parents should be looked at.

However, while Mr Ó Cuív accepted that everything would be looked at in the process leading up to the Budget, he added: “There are huge complexities in doing it through the tax system.

“One thing you cannot constitutionally do is do anything that disadvantages families, families based on marriage, because of the Constitutional situation here.”

The Minister for Children Barry Andrews suggested on Monday that the Government might have to examine cutting child benefit for higher earners in the next Budget.

He was reacting the announcement of UK Chancellor George Osborne that his Government are to cut child benefit for higher earners. The move has created a storm of controversy in Britain.

Echoing Mr Osborne, Mr Andrews said he didn’t think the situation where high earners were receiving child benefit on the basis of tax paid by people on much lower incomes could be justified, the Irish Times reported.

Speaking on Newstalk, he said: “Everything is on the agenda in the talks that we’ll be having in Cabinet over the next six to nine weeks.” Asked if would he not be opposed to changes in child benefit, he said it was “something that needs to be looked at”.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin was more circumspect about the prospect of a means-tested cut.

Speaking about the issue in Cork yesterday, he said: “The problem with children’s allowances, and we’ve been through this for the past two years in terms of systems, it just hasn’t been possible to bring in a system that will tax children’s allowance.

“As far as I’m concerned we’ve had this debate for two years and both the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Welfare have gone through this and there are a lot of anomalies and you end up with people in separations and all of that because of the data bases just aren’t there.

“If they can do in the UK, we will wait and see but our systems are telling us it’s just not possible. And then there’s the issue of the child benefit being the payments for the children to the mother. Child benefit is universally available in Ireland and is paid at the same rate per child irrespective of the income of the parents.”

The benefit is paid to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years, or under 18 if the child is in full-time education, in Fás training, or has a disability.

The monthly rate increases on a sliding scale. It is €150 for one child; €300 for two children; €487 for three children; and €674 for four children; with parents of eight children receiving €1,422 each month.