Taoiseach Brian Cowen has refused to be drawn on whether the Government is planning to cut Child Benefit in the upcoming Budget.
Responding to questions from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, Brian Cowen said no decisions have yet been made but, he said, every aspect of expenditure has to be looked at.
Pointing out that the Child Benefit payments amount to €2.5bn this year, the Taoiseach reiterated that no area can be immune from consideration.
The Fine Gael leader said his party could identify ways of making the €4bn in savings without touching the payment. Deputy Kenny said that many of the 600,000 families who get the Benefit rely on it as a source of income.
The comments come after Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin indicated that three different levels of Child Benefit payments may be introduced.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Frontline programme, Ms Hanafin said she accepted that social welfare payments would have to be reduced in next month's Budget, but she was trying to find savings without imposing too much hardship on people.
The Minister said people on social welfare and on low incomes were identifiable and they would look to the Revenue Commissioners to identify higher income earners.
She said that she did not believe a woman should lose Child Benefit completely, but the Government needed to be fair in how it was distributed. Child Benefit currently costs €2.5bn.
She said it would not mean that every mother would get the same amount of money and she did not believe a woman should be penalised because of her husband's income.
Asked about assessing eligibility for child benefit, Ms Hanafin said a full tax and means testing of everyone would not be possible.
However, she went on to say that if you took a high income group you would be dealing with a very limited group and could do it for them.
Finlay urges Govt to leave child benefit alone
Barnardos' Chief Executive Fergus Finlay has said child benefit should be left untouched in December’s Budget.
Fergus Finlay said that the payment is vital to some families and has been a huge contributor to reducing child poverty.
Mr Finlay said: ‘When Barnardos presented at the Minister for Social and Family Affairs' pre-Budget forum in October we argued that a straight cut across the board to Child Benefit would be inequitable, unfair and disproportionate as the poor would suffer most.
‘We urged the Government to exclude those on social welfare and in receipt of Family Income Supplement from any cuts to Child Benefit.
‘We are pleased at indications that Minister Hanafin has listened but remain concerned that it will be an uphill battle to protect children living in poverty ahead of the Budget from Cabinet cuts.’
‘Barnardos is concerned that the 2007 child poverty figures have risen over the past two years as recession deepens and we urge Government not to become complacent about measures to reduce child poverty.
Mr Finlay said that Ms Hanafin has a tough battle ahead in trying to protect child benefit, but he said his charity would continue to lobby the whole Cabinet to protect the most vulnerable children.
Pre-Budget estimates discussed
New figures that have emerged this evening show the Government is slightly more optimistic about the future of the economy.
At their weekly Cabinet meeting today ministers discussed pre-Budget estimates. Those figures show that the Department of Finance believse the economy will contract by 7.5% this year and by a further 1.5% next year.
Earlier this year when delivering the supplementary Budget Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, forecast that the economy would contract by 8% this year.
Other figures from the Department of Finance pre-Budget estimates predict that unemployment will continue to rise.
For the first half of this year the figure was around 12% but it is expected unemployment will average around 13.75% in 2010.
The Budget deficit will reach 12% of GDP but only if the Government achieves savings of €4bn, according to the Department's estimates.
