A large part of the cabinet will consult on Sunday afternoon in the Catshuis about the affair surrounding the childcare allowance. They will discuss further recommendations from the damning benefits report. Last month it was already decided to give all duped parents 30,000 euros. This time it is not expected to have any political consequences.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Eric Wiebes (Economic Affairs) will in any case be present, as will State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (Allowances). Deputy Prime Ministers Kajsa Ollongren (D66) and Carola Schouten (ChristenUnie) are also expected to attend the session at the Catshuis, the official residence of the prime minister in The Hague.
According to insiders, the cabinet will “go deeper” into the damning report drawn up by an interrogation committee of the House of Representatives after several hearings with officials and ministers. It concluded that the fundamental principles of the rule of law were violated during the too fanatical hunt by the tax authorities for possible fraudsters with the childcare allowance.
Thousands of parents were wrongly labeled as fraudsters, after which they had to repay all benefits received. Often it involved many thousands of euros, destroying lives.
During the first Catshuis session on the benefits affair, on December 22, it was decided to give all duped parents 30,000 euros in compensation. They will receive the money by 1 May at the latest, Van Huffelen hopes. Parents who later turn out to be entitled to more are still eligible for this.
‘Symbolic resignation’ not yet on the agenda
Although the call for political consequences is getting louder, insiders say that the issue will not be on the table on Sunday. Ministers of government who were previously politically responsible, such as Wiebes (then State Secretary for Finance) and current PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher (then Minister of Social Affairs), are no longer. For example, the symbolic resignation is suggested by the full cabinet, after which it will continue in a caretaker manner in the last few months before the elections.
This happened earlier when the last Kok cabinet stepped down after a damning report on the genocide in Srebrenica, where Dutch soldiers were stationed to keep the peace. Rutte said last month that it is still too early to think about that scenario. He did acknowledge that the report cannot be without consequences. This month, the government will come up with an extensive response, it has been promised earlier.
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