Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 March 2026
177. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the safeguards in place to ensure that child benefit payments are made only where eligibility conditions, including habitual residence, are satisfied; the number of child benefit claims identified as incorrectly paid to non-resident recipients in each of the past three years; and whether additional verification requirements are being considered. [22756/26]
View answerChild Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age. Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged between 16 and 19, if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves.
As of 28/02/2026, Child Benefit was in payment to circa 675,000 customers in respect of 1.26 million children. Child Benefit payments amount to approximately €2.1 billion annually.
To apply for Child Benefit both the qualifying person and child must have a valid Personal Public Service number (PPSN).
Child Benefit is also subject to Habitual Residence condition, which means that the customer:
• has proven close ties with Ireland;
• has been living in Ireland for some time;
• intends to stay in Ireland for the foreseeable future.
A Child Benefit claim where a customer fails to satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition is disallowed.
The Department of Social Protection carries out a range of control measures across all its schemes to prevent, detect and deter fraud. These includes checks both at the award stage and subsequent reviews.
The main control mechanism for Child Benefit is the Continuing Eligibility Certificate process. Customers are issued with a certificate every 12-18 months. A customer will have to return this certificate within 28 days to ensure continued eligibility. Over 300,000 certs are issued each year.
The number of overpayments of child benefit (CB), where the reason for the overpayment was that the claimant was absent from the state, was as follows:
|
Year |
CB overpayments with reason: Absent from State |
|
2023 |
1,636 |
|
2024 |
1,685 |
|
2025 |
1,867 |
No additional verification requirements are being considered currently.
