2014 Christmas Message to An Taoiseach and Minister for Finance

Dear Scrooge and Grinch,

Well, it's the Friday before Christmas and I thought I'd write you my now annual christmas message to tell you about my year and give you your christmas report card.

I have just checked my bank account and I have a budget of € 77.39 for Christmas 2014.

I haven't bought any presents for my three children yet and I haven't bought any food or drink for the holidays.

That's a very damning snapshot of the real effects of your policies.

In 2014 your government made a big song and dance about giving something back to PAYE workers since we are now "out of the bailout" (whatever that means to you...).  Both of you will be more than €700 better off because of that.  I will be € 430 better off.  Except I won't.

In the previous budget you took € 2,490 more income tax from me because I am a single father.  Penalised for being an unmarried (actually divorced) man with children.  So your government has made me more than TWO THOUSAND EURO WORSE OFF since you came into office.  And that is JUST IN INCOME TAX ... BEFORE I even address other charges and taxes that you have introduced.

In October, Justice Marie Baker of the High Court made a ruling which admonished the Department of Social Protection for judging a single father's entitlement to benefits without due regard for his children, their rights to support in their relationship with their father and his right to be regarded as a man with (semi) dependent children ... not just a single person.

The change to the tax code which resulted in the loss of tax credits and allowances for single fathers in the budget of October 2013 is therefore morally unjust.  It is punitive towards single fathers, creates serious inequality between unmarried fathers and mothers, and by extension creates serious inequality between children of unmarried parents and children of married parents.  It also directly contributes to the despicable phenomenon of Parental Alienation by clearly making a statement to children of separated or unmarried parents that the State regards their parents as unequal, sending a message that single mothers (or primary carers) are more important than single fathers (or secondary carers).

The tax code also now regards me as a single person with no children, which is absolutely and clearly not the case.  The tax code refuses to see me as a father.  When it sees me it does not see my children.  My children have been 'removed' from me.  They are invisible.

Well my children are NOT invisible.  I have joint custody of my children.  The access arrangement means I see them 11 days out of 28.  They have overnight access to me every second weekend.  I have two weeks summer holidays with them.  To remove € 2,000 from my income has a significant, real and drastic effect on my ability to build and enjoy a relationship with them.  This year it will mean they will get very little from me at Christmas time, while you all enjoy unlimited food, drink, presents, excursions, treats and fun with yours.

I did my best to carry the tax increase into 2014 to avoid having to pass it on to my children's mother.  I have always done my utmost to ensure that the breakup of my marriage would not be felt in my children's home. By May it was extremely difficult to continue without some relief so I was forced by your actions to go back to family court ... an experience which must be closest thing to hell on earth.  I presented a proposal to the court which would have allowed me to recoup the extra tax back from the Revenue and leave the maintenance I pay (more than 60% of my wages) untouched.  The proposal would have resulted in a small increase in income tax to my ex but the maintenance payment would remain exactly the same.

The court refused to consider my proposal and in so doing forced me to continue paying income tax on that part of the maintenance paid in respect of my ex.  So the courts (1) refused me my legal entitlement under the tax code to have relief for the amount paid to my ex; (2) ordered that I continue to pay  tax at 41% on income that is my ex's upon which she would only be paying tax at 20%..!; and (3) protected the money that you had taken from me by disallowing my entitlement to claim it back.

I would also note that the reasons and basis upon which the removal of the single parent tax credit was removed have all been clearly debunked in my previous correspondence to the Minister and other members of the Oireachtas.

One of those reasons was that the change has been proposed by the Commission on Taxation.  It is absolutely despicable that this was the ONLY change proposed which was adopted.  It was an easy € 25 million to steal from a minority group with no lobbying power and you know it!  This year you 'removed' the Double Irish provision for multinational companies but this was on a PHASED BASIS.  Why could changes to the tax code for single fathers (one of the groups of people suffering most under austerity) not have been made on a phased basis??  This point is moot anyway because the entire basis for the attack was unfounded and following Justice Baker's ruling is now clearly unlawful.

I'm signing off now because I have more important things to do than waste my breath on you.

I have to plan how I am to bring at least a little bit of joy to my children this Christmas.  There's more to life than money.  at least I hope so.

Paul Madden
The Dissident Drum

Christmas Message 2013
http://emeraldfist.blogspot.ie/2013/12/christmas-letter-to-taoiseach-2013-year.html

Christmas Message 2012
http://emeraldfist.blogspot.ie/2013/01/a-christmas-message-to-taoiseach.html

Christmas Message 2011
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10150532923845791

https://www.facebook.com/284577154921937/photos/a.284967824882870.67808.284577154921937/284967831549536/?type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/284577154921937/photos/a.285387558174230.67886.284577154921937/285388304840822/?type=1&theater