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 631,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of more than €2.1 billion in 2022.
Under Child Benefit legislation, Child Benefit is only payable to children aged over16 as long as they continue in full-time education or if they have a disability.
Payment of Child Benefit for the summer months will continue where the school has certified that the child will remain in full time education. Where the school has not certified continuing education the payment will be temporarily suspended and the claimant will be advised to confirm continuing education in the Autumn.
Letters issue during the summer from the Department to each of the families affected, which must be completed by the schools to certify the children who have returned to education. At this point the Child Benefit payment will be reinstated, and payment for the months suspended during the summer will be issued as arrears.
Where a school has already certified a child's attendance beyond the summer break, the payment is not suspended.
The Department provides many other supports to families; the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year. The allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid, and eligible children between the ages of 18 and 22 who are in full-time second level education and in respect of whom a qualified child allowance is being paid. The rates of payments for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance are €160 for children aged 4 to 11 and €285 for children aged 12 years and over and are returning to second level education.
Funding is also available from Department of Education to schools to help cover the costs of school books.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
