Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
428. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection the changes introduced to the qualified child payment since 27 June 2020; and if she will detail the number of recipients, by county, benefitting from these changes, in tabular form. [31136/23]
View answerMost weekly social welfare payments include provision for an additional payment of an Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) in respect of each qualified child up to the age of 18, which is extended to encompass older children to age 22 under certain circumstances.
Budget 2023 targeted social welfare measures to assist low-income families with children by providing for the rate of the Increase for a Qualified Child to increase by €2 per week to €50 in respect of children aged 12 or over and by €2 per week to €42 in respect of children aged under 12.
I provided for increases to the rate of the Increase for Qualified Child payment from 2020 to 2023 inclusive.
|
Age Group |
Under 12 Rate per child |
Aged 12 and over per child |
|
Budget 2023 |
increased by €2 to €42 |
increased by €2 to €50 |
|
Budget 2022 |
increased by €2 to €40 |
increased by €3 to €48 |
|
Budget 2021 |
increased by €2 to €40 |
increased by €5 to €45 |
|
Budget 2020 |
increased by €2 to €36 |
increased by €3 to €40 |
As a result, these rates have increased by €8 for under 12s and by €13 for over 12s over the last four Budgets. The Increase for Qualified Child Payment is paid in respect of approximately 323,256 children across my Department's various schemes.
In the time available, it is not possible to provide the number of recipients of an Increase for Qualified Child payment by county given the payment is made across so many schemes.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
