Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:1174. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost to increase child benefit in respect of children over 12 years of age by €30. [41246/21]
View answerTuesday, 27 July 2021
Questions (1174)
Written answers
Child 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 until their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child benefit is currently paid to over 633,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of more than €2 billion in 2019.
The cost of increasing child benefit for children aged over 12 as proposed by the Deputy is estimated to be €10.2 million per month or €123.2 million per year.
Any proposal for changes to the rate of payment for child benefit would have to be considered in the overall budgetary context.