Call to eliminate tax individualisation and give parents childcare subsidy

There has been a call to eliminate tax individualisation and allow a childcare subsidy to all parents to be spent as they see fit.

Writing in the Irish Times on Saturday, Maria Steen criticised the Government’s policy preference for subsidising only one form of childcare and penalising single-income families. She wrote that for some children – such as those suffering separation anxiety – even a high-quality institutional care-setting may be unsuitable and so, the Government should support families who wish to choose another model of care for their children.

She added that parents opting to stay at home are at a major disadvantage financially, despite the valuable role they play in their children’s lives, in the life of the wider family and indeed society. “They are penalised by the tax system: a single-income household will pay more in tax than a double-income household with the same income. And they effectively subsidise other parents sending their children to centre-based care, while receiving no State aid for caring for their own children.”

Her proposed solution would be to eliminate tax individualisation, and offer a childcare subsidy to all parents regardless of the form of care they prefer for their children.