Fine Gael councillor makes controversial remarks about child benefit payments
DUBLIN: A Fine Gael councillor has made a controversial statement about the Child Benefit Payment Scheme. Cllr David McManus said that paying child benefit to all parents, regardless of income, is “a subsidy for them to have sex”. South Dublin County Cllr says social welfare should be given to those who need it most.
“Child benefit goes to every child in the country, we’re giving child benefit to families on high wages, people on €100,000 a year. It’s like a subsidy for them to have sex,” Cllr McManus said. “When money is scarce, my view is, you give it to those who most need it,” he added.
David McManus said the Irish Government provides €140 a month in child benefit payments to all parents, including high-income earners. Speaking on ‘Local Voices’, a podcast from Dublin newspaper ‘The Echo’, the councillor said that these benefits should be given to the most deserving members of society.
The podcast focused on the living wage, and councillors were asked about a hot meals programme for schools. The meals are allocated to schools using a lottery system, which Cllr McManus opposes as “not ideal” and “inadequate.”
He said the hot meals programme should not be given to all schools in the country, but to those in need. “I would say hot meals for schools should be there for all Deis schools and all disadvantaged schools that need it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Regina Doherty, the leader of the Seanad and Fine Gael Senator, mocked his proposal. “Whatever about subsidies, no brain cells were taxed coming to this conclusion,” she tweeted.
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