Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
601. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans to address child poverty before the Christmas period and further through the winter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72950/25]
View answerAs Minister I am committed to ensuring that no child is living in consistent poverty, and every child has the opportunity to thrive. We are not there yet, so it is crucial we keep focused on improving outcomes for these children and their families. Budget 2026 has prioritised targeted and focused investment to support children and families who need it most.
The ESRI has estimated that Budget 2026 measures will lift around 2,000 children out of income poverty, and this represents the first year of the Government’s multi-year plan to meet the target.
Addressing child poverty is one of the priorities highlighted in Young Ireland, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People, and measures taken within this Department reflect this priority. Similarly, the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II 2024 – 2028 is a whole of Government Strategy with a key focus on addressing the inequalities experienced by Travellers and Roma including in terms of health, education, employment and accommodation, using a social determinant approach. Strategic themes and associated actions in the Strategy aim to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and disadvantage by improving education outcomes, employment prospects, promoting social inclusion, fostering overall health and wellbeing, and driving overall economic development for Travellers and Roma.
The Department has made great efforts to address child poverty, and there will be funding provided in 2026 for a range of measures that support affordability, access and quality of services.
This includes the following measures:
• more than 286,000 children are set to benefit from the National Childcare Scheme;
• continued implementation of the universal Early Childhood Care and Education programme, benefiting approximately 105,250 children;
• continued support for the Equal Start funding model with 37,000 children set to benefit in 2026; and
• continued delivery of AIM supports - designed to ensure that children with disabilities can fully participate in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme and beyond, thereby reaping the benefits of quality early learning and care and realising the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The ‘Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan’, was published on 17 December. The Action Plan commits to increasing the NCS Income Assessed Thresholds later in 2026, with an increase to the lower and upper income thresholds of the NCS income assessed (IA) subsidy from €26,000 - €60,000 (current) to €34,000 - €68,000; An increase to the multiple child discount (MCD) component of the NCS IA subsidy for families with 2 or more children under the age of 15 from €4,300 to €5,500 for families with two children and from €8,600 to €11,000 for families with 3 or more children.
Through increasing the NCS Income-Assessed thresholds, families whose reckonable income falls within the new thresholds will receive a higher subsidy, as they will move to a higher income-assessed rate, according to their individual circumstances. Increasing the Multiple Child Discount will further reduce the reckonable income for families with 2 or more children, allowing them to receive a higher subsidy, thereby reducing the cumulative burden of cost.
These adjustments will considerably improve the affordability of early learning and childcare for up to 47,000 children from lower income families. This measure will achieve alignment with the current relative income poverty rate for families with children, as per Social Justice Ireland data.
The measure is key to assisting the Government in addressing child poverty, which is a central focus for Budget 2026, and was highlighted specifically for prioritisation by the Children's Rights Alliance.
Additional budget was secured to strengthen the national network of Family Resource Centres and bring spending on core funding to €25m in total, which will see the network grow to 136. 2026 will also be the fourth successive year where Tusla’s budget exceeds €1billion now reaching over €1.4 billion. This will be used to provide vital frontline services to children and families.
On 14 November 2025, the Kildare Child Poverty Profile was officially launched by the Department and shines a light on the often-hidden realities of child poverty in one of Ireland’s most affluent counties, with neurodivergent children particularly affected. The Profile is a key element of the Kildare Child Poverty Initiative, and is one of four Local Area Child Poverty Action Plan pilots funded by DCDE’s What Works scheme, to develop locally informed evidence-based responses to child poverty.
