Laurentien Foundation and Ministry are upset about the benefits affair, cabinet will decide tomorrow
NOS News•Yesterday, 18:39
Laurentien Foundation and Ministry are upset about the benefits affair, cabinet will decide tomorrow
The Ministry of Finance wants more control over amounts paid to victims of the benefits affair. The amounts paid by the Equal Recovery Foundation must be traceable and can be explained to other parents and taxpayers, sources tell the NOS. The foundation and the ministry are upset about the future of claims handling.
For a long time, help for the “allowance parents” was far too slow for some of the victims. The Equal Recovery Foundation, founded by Princess Laurentien, is trying to do things differently. Parents can tell their story, based on which standard amounts are paid out. A pilot with this method is now underway.
6.6 billion euros more expensive
The parents are enthusiastic and feel heard. Former Christian Union leader Gert-Jan Segers is chairman of the foundation's supervisory board: “It is a process by and for parents, with many volunteers, working together to recover. It results in something the government can't do like that.”
But there are concerns within the ministry, because the method pays an average of around 100,000 euros more than a route set up by the government itself. While parents have to provide less evidence. The ministry calculates that if the pilot is converted into policy, the method would cost an additional 6.6 billion euros.
Princess Laurentien published a video on the foundation's website to alleviate unnecessary anxiety among affected allowance parents, see link below:https://nos.nl/l/2522583
Princess Laurentien: Equal Recovery remains for you
The foundation believes that these amounts are far too high by the ministry, because far fewer victims will come forward. Segers calls the 6.6 billion euros “out of thin air” and “too high”. He thinks that the method actually costs less in the end. According to him, many parents are now objecting, which can also cost a lot of money.
The chairman of the supervisory board also points out that the most dramatic cases so far have reported to the foundation. Segers hopes for good cooperation between foundation and government, because this is the only way to do justice and “work on recovery and reconciliation”.
Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers has a decision to make tomorrow. Indeed, there is already a recovery route from the government. Hundreds of people work there and more than 8 billion euros have already been invested in it.
Sources therefore say that the outgoing cabinet at least wants more control over the work of Princess Laurentien's foundation. Whether the foundation still has a future at all will be up to a new cabinet.
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