Ministry still dithering about “generous” aid to parents in benefits scandal

This summer, a new counter will open for parents who were victims of the benefits scandal. This office aims to offer “generous” help to these parents. But the responsible Ministry is still dithering about who will be entitled to this aid, NU.nl reports.

A spokesperson for caretaker State Secretary Sandra Palmen for Benefits told the newspaper that, in principle, all victims can apply for aid from the new office. But the Ministry must also wonder whether parents who suffered little damage can claim even more compensation. The Ministry does not want to “raise false expectations” for affected parents who suffered relatively little damage and already received compensation, the spokesperson said.

Between 2005 and 2019, the Tax Authority wrongly labeled around 40,000 parents as fraudsters and ordered them to pay back the childcare allowance they had already received, often with devastating consequences. Early in the recovery operation, the government awarded all recognized victims 30,000 euros in compensation, known as the Catshuis scheme. Their debts were forgiven, and the children in the family were also entitled to an amount. “All in all, this could easily amount to 60,000 euros,” the Ministry spokesperson told NU.nl.

But many of these parents not only suffered the financial consequences of having to repay their childcare allowance. They often had to sell their homes or other valuables to cover their expenses, take their children out of daycare, meaning that they had to stop working, and live with a lot of stress. In thousands of cases, the problems at home piled up to the extent that the child protection board placed the children out of their parental home.

For about 40 percent of the 40,000 recognized victims, the Tax Authority claimed back more than 30,000 euros in childcare allowance. The government considers it plausible that this group suffered additional damage, such as the loss of a home or even the custody of their child. The “generous” aid from the new counter will definitely apply to them.

But for another 30 percent of the parents, the government claimed back less than 5,000 euros. And they already received 30,000 euros in compensation from the Catshuis scheme. Palmen is wondering whether these parents should be eligible for even more compensation.

The caretaker State Secretary could either ask these parents to prove the additional damage, placing an extra burden on officials to check the evidence provided and delaying the compensation process even further. Or she could decide that parents who suffered less than 30,000 euros in financial damage cannot qualify for “generous” aid.

The Ministry estimates that around 20,000 people are eligible for additional compensation. So far, only 2,000 people have been helped.

Palmen will provide more information about the progress of the recovery operation before the summer recess.