Following Conor McMorrow's report 'The kids' parents are alright' (News, 10 October), in which he referred to 'a tale of two Barnardos', we would like to point out that Barnardos Ireland is not an "Irish wing of the Barnardos children's charity". We are a wholly independent children's charity and have been since 1989.

In fact, Barnardos was founded by an Irishman, Thomas Barnardo who was born in Dame Street, Dublin and educated in St Patrick's Cathedral School. He travelled to London, a city struggling to cope with the effects of the Industrial Revolution, to train as a doctor before embarking on medical missionary work in China.

A few months after his arrival, an outbreak of cholera swept through London killing 3,000 people and leaving families destitute. Thousands of children slept on the streets and were forced to beg. Thomas Barnardo abandoned his missionary plans and in 1867 established a school in the East End of London where vulnerable children could get an education.

With regards to child benefit, any comparison that is made between Ireland and the UK is unfair. Unlike the UK where comprehensive free public services are available, parents in Ireland largely have to pay for GP visits, childcare services, education costs, so to simply copy the policy adopted in the UK is not only unjust, but grossly underestimates the value that Child Benefit means to families.

Through our work with children and families in communities across Ireland, we see families at all levels of income struggling to survive. While we fully recognise that there may be a case for asking better-off people to make do with less by way of child benefit, a crude measure like a rate cut will have a hugely disproportionate effect on the children of poorer families, and is simply not an option.

Fergus Finlay

Chief Executive

Barnardos