Grandparents who help with childcare may get a grant in next budget

A 'Grandparent and Grandchild Expenses Reimbursement Scheme' has been suggested for inclusion in the next budget.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, and the Independent Alliance have discussed how this scheme could be put into practice. It has been proposed that grandparents who help mind their grandchildren for more than ten hours a week will receive €1,000 a year for doing so. The Independent Alliance says that this grant would show recognition for the many grandparents that look after their grandkids on a regular basis. This proposal was previously put forward by Shane Ross, Minister for Transport, but it didn't get the go-ahead. According to recent stats compiled before the proposal, an estimated 70,000 grandparents could avail of the grant if it were to come to fruition. The Independent Alliance has also called for the Bereavement Grant, helping with the cost of funerals, of €850 to be reintroduced, for gambling taxes to be increased and for a rise in the threshold for inheritance tax, according to the Irish Independent. In response to the Grandparent and Grandchild Expenses Reimbursement Scheme proposal, the Stay-At-Home Parents Association has called on the Irish government to provide a similar grant for parents who stay at home.