Green TD sparks child benefit row THE Green Party was called upon last night to say if it agreed with a senior party figure that anybody earning over €100,000 should have their child benefit ended. The Greens' deputy leader Mary White said she felt anybody making over €100,000 didn't need child benefit. However, child benefit campaigners are upping the ante in their campaign against cuts tomorrow and say everybody's circumstances are different. Ms White claimed her personal definition of "very wealthy" was "anyone earning over €100,000". The Carlow-Kilkenny TD said Social Welfare Minister Mary Hanafin was looking at a system with three tiers of child benefit payments including one "for those who are very wealthy, who don't actually need the child benefit." Distancing the junior coalition partners from the comments, the Green Party in government said the TD was just "speaking in a personal capacity". "We are engaging in budget discussions at cabinet level. And it is the intention of the Green Party to minimise necessary changes to social welfare and ensure that those most vulnerable in society are not unduly impacted upon," a party spokesman said. The spokesman said there would be many people within the party who would agree with the deputy leader. However, the party's official position was that it was negotiating with its partners in government on the Budget. But the National Women's Council of Ireland is opposed to any cuts and wants to see the Greens clarify their position on child benefit. NWCI head of policy Orla O'Connor said the Greens seemed to be giving out mixed messages on child benefit. Unclear Ms O'Connor was also unclear about whether Ms White was talking about single incomes of €100,000 or whether a couple -- both on €50,000 -- should lose out. She said for individuals earning more than €100,000, the Government could bring in a third rate of tax. If the Government was going down the route of income thresholds, then they needed to look at income after childcare costs, she said. This morning, five campaign groups will make a joint appeal opposing cuts to child benefit in Budget 2010. OPEN, One Family, PACUB (Protest Against Child Unfriendly Budget), the Children's Rights Alliance and the NWCI have come together in the run-up to the Budget to highlight the issue. Ms White said she regarded somebody who was earning €100,000 as very wealthy and the Government needed to have a cut-off figure. "Well look, €100,000 is a figure plucked out of the air by me at this moment. That is my view. "But if you compare that to people who are below €30,000 or unemployed and have been unemployed for the last 10 years, who never had the benefit of the Celtic Tiger, we want to protect those people particularly, and child benefit is crucial to the mother," she said on RTE's 'The Week in Politics'. - Fionnan Sheahan, Political Editor, Irish Independent Get Listed on MyChildcare.ie today.... Sign Up Here
