Minister Burton needs to clarify statement

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Sunday August 14, 2011 14:03 by Declan Cullen - None

Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, in a press release published in the Irish Independent on the 29th of July 2011, hinted that she was going to review the system of Child Benefit along the lines of the CCT method of payments in Mexico and Brazil.

Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, in a press release published in the Irish Independent on the 29th of July 2011, hinted that she was going to review the system of Child Benefit along the lines of the CCT method of payments in Mexico and Brazil.

In the last paragraph of the press release she further hinted that Child Benefit might by linked to school enrollment and vaccinations.

Quote: The CCT system makes social welfare payments conditional on the actions of the receiver.

Criteria in different countries include making sure children are enrolled in schools and receiving vaccinations".

The full press release can be read in the July 29th 2011 edition of the Irish Independent.

I would like Minister Burton to clarifty if her intention is to force parents to vaccinate their children in order to receive Child Benefit, because if this was to be the case it would not only be unconstitutional, but it would be also unlawful.

But the thing that angered me the most was the fact that no mainstream media outlet challenged the content of the press release and it seems to have disappeared into the memory hole.

Declan Cullen