The Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, provides for the continued payment of child benefit up to age 19 years in respect of children aged 16 or over who are still receiving full-time education. The circumstances which determine whether a child may be regarded as receiving full-time education are specified in regulation. These regulations stipulate that a child attending a course of instruction by day on a full-time basis at an institution of education may be regarded as receiving full-time education.
In the case of children who are being educated at home, the legislative requirement in regard to receiving full-time education can be fulfilled by the provision of confirmation from the Department of Education and Science that the child has registered and been accepted to sit State examinations, including the junior certificate or leaving certificate examination. This, together with a declaration from the parent that his or her child is receiving full-time education from a suitably qualified person, would suffice to allow the payment of child benefit in the case of a child being educated at home. In reaching a determination on this matter, each case is decided on its own merits.
The legislative requirement in regard to receiving full-time education applies equally where a child is attending an institution of education or being educated at home. Some 137,612 children aged 16 or over receive child benefit. There are no data on the number of children in this age group being educated at home.
