Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
1585. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps his Department is taking to design and deliver a targeted social welfare payment for families experiencing consistent poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1906/26]
View answerThe Government remains committed to supporting all families in caring for their children through a wide range of supports, available across Departments to ease the financial pressures on families.
The Programme for Government includes the commitment to explore a targeted child benefit payment and examine the interaction this would have with existing targeted supports like the Working Family and Child Support Payments. Officials in my Department are currently advancing this work.
While a targeted child benefit payment is one approach to reduce child poverty, there are also existing schemes and mechanisms available to me to achieve this end. We know, based on ESRI research, that increases in the Child Support Payment and Working Family Payment are very effective at tackling child poverty. These payments provide targeted assistance that is directly linked to household income, thereby supporting low-income families with children. This is why, as part of Budget 2026, we introduced the highest single increases to Child Support Payment rates in history, as well as significant increases to thresholds for the Working Family Payment, amongst other measures.
The Government has also approved an ambitious child poverty target, with a consistent poverty rate of 3% to be achieved by the end of 2030. This would mean a reduction of 5.5 percentage points from the current child consistent poverty rate of 8.5%.
While of course, no level of child poverty is acceptable, the new Child Poverty Target will guide our cross-government policies and ensure investment is targeted at the children who need it the most, so we can lift as many children - and their families - as possible out of poverty.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
