Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2024
541. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for further details on the rationale for the practice of the mother of a child entering foster care continuing to be paid child benefit for six months even though the child now resides with a foster family; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6513/24]
View answerChild Benefit is a monthly payment of €140 to support parents and guardians which falls under the remit of the Department of Social Protection. If a child is not living with or being maintained by their parents, the person caring for the child may get Child Benefit. Child Benefit payments begin automatically from the month after birth once the child’s birth has been registered. It should be noted that only one individual can be paid Child Benefit in respect of a child at any particular point in time.
As the Deputy has outlined, where a child is placed into care, the qualified parent retains the Child Benefit payment for 6 months thereafter. This allows a period for potential reunification with the parents. Payment may then transfer to the foster parent(s) provided that the child has been in their continuous care for a period of 6 months. The Department of Social Protection has advised that this is in order to preserve the birth parent’s entitlement where the child is placed in short-term foster care. The immediate withdrawal of Child Benefit may have an adverse financial effect on the birth parent who may, regardless of the duration of the foster care, maintain some level of contact with the child.
Given the fact that foster care arrangements can often be short-term and that legislating for all possible scenarios would be impractical, it was decided that six months represents a reasonable ‘lead-in’ time before the transfer of Child Benefit to a foster carer, as appropriate.
