Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 September 2015
28. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will consider extending children's allowance to those secondary school students who turn 19 years of age before their leaving certificate, as the cut-off at 18 years of age is a huge burden to those parents, particularly in low-income families; and the cost of reinstating a payment for these students. [33025/15]
View answerChild Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a physical or mental disability.
Child Benefit is currently paid to around 610,000 families in respect of some 1.16 million children, with an estimated expenditure of around €1.9 billion in 2014. Child Benefit is an important source of income for all families and in Budget 2015, Government increased child benefit by €5 per month, at a cost of €72 million.
Budget 2009 reduced the age for eligibility for child benefit from 19 years to less than 18 years. A value for money review of child income supports, published by the Department of Social Protection in 2010, found that the current participation pattern of children in education supports the current age limit for Child Benefit.
Families on low incomes can avail of a number of provisions to social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:
- qualified child increases (QCIs) with primary social welfare payments;
- family income supplement (FIS) for low-paid employees with children;
- the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for low income families.
These schemes provide assistance that is directly linked with household income and thereby supports low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.
The estimated cost of extending the upper age limit for payment of child benefit to 19 years for those in education would be in the region of €58 million in a full year. Any changes to the eligibility criteria for child benefit could only be decided in a budgetary context.
