Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 November 2025
604. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department has conducted any analysis of how divorce or separations affect dependency entitlements for parents who are in receipt of welfare payments. [65967/25]
View answerThe social protection system has a range of supports available to parents who are raising children, including Child Benefit, the Child Support Payment and the Working Family Payment. With the exception of the universal Child Benefit, these schemes provide targeted assistance that is directly linked to household income and thereby support low-income families with children. Each of the schemes assist parents with the cost associated with raising children and contribute to alleviating child poverty.
The rules regarding each of these payments are contained in the relevant legislation and regulations. In general, only one payment is made in respect of each qualified child, this payment is made to the qualified person with whom the child is normally resident.
In the case of separated parents, the child shall be considered normally resident with the parent who has custody of the child, provided that the parent is making significant contributions to the child’s upkeep. Where a child is the subject of a joint custody arrangement and lives with both parents part-time, their normal residence is considered to be with the parent they spend most time with.
A parent who is divorced or separated, and who is not cohabiting, may be entitled to a One-Parent Family Payment, or Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment, subject to meeting all eligibility criteria.
The Department regularly reviews all of its schemes in order to ensure that they are still delivering on their policy aims and objectives. Any changes to the treatment of payments after divorce or separation would have to be considered in a wider policy and budgetary context.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
