Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the Cabinet’s resignation in an address on Friday, saying the responsibility for the scandal “ultimately lies with the current cabinet and nowhere else”.
In the scandal, around 10,000 families in the Netherlands were told to reimburse tens of thousands of euros in subsidies after being wrongly accused of child protection fraud.
Rutte made his speech after the publication of a report by the parliamentary inquiry committee into the childcare allowance, which he called “very harsh but fair”.
“At all levels of the political-administrative-legal system, mistakes have been made that have led to great injustice for thousands of parents,” he noted.
The Dutch prime minister was clear that financial compensation for affected parents was “the first thing that needs to be properly arranged”.
“We will continue to work on rapid compensation and improvements for the future.”
He announced elections for a new government in mid-March until then, the current administration will remain active and “can be expected to do what is necessary in the national interest”.
Rutte has been in power for more than a decade, taking over in October 2010. If his party wins the election in two months, he will be able to form a new administration.
Addressing the Dutch people, Rutte said that “our fight against coronavirus continues.”