Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 June 2026
372. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated first-year and full-year cost of paying an additional child benefit supplement of €50 per month per child to all children currently covered by working family payment, one-parent family payment, jobseeker’s transitional payment or the child support payment. [46661/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra373. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated first-year and full-year cost of paying an additional child benefit supplement of €75 per month per child to all children currently covered by working family payment, one-parent family payment, jobseeker’s transitional payment or the child support payment. [46662/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra374. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated first-year and full-year cost of paying an additional child benefit supplement of €100 per month per child to all children currently covered by working family payment, one-parent family payment, jobseeker’s transitional payment or the child support payment. [46663/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra375. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated first-year and full-year cost of paying an additional child benefit supplement of €125 per month per child to all children currently covered by working family payment, one-parent family payment, jobseeker’s transitional payment or the child support payment. [46664/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra376. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated first-year and full-year cost of paying an additional child benefit supplement of €150 per month per child to all children currently covered by working family payment, one-parent family payment, jobseeker’s transitional payment or the child support payment. [46665/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 372, 373, 374, 375 and 376 together.
Most weekly social welfare payments, including both the One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker's Transitional Payment, include a Child Support Payment in respect of each qualified child up to the age of 18, which is extended to encompass older children to age 22 under certain circumstances. Child Support Payments are paid for each child in the family and the rate of payment is higher for children aged 12 years or older.
Working Family Payment is a payment for lower-income employees with children, which provides a payment to bridge the gap between earnings and the cost of raising a family.
As of the end of May, approximately 429,000 children were supported through a Child Support Payment or Working Family Payment.
The estimated annual cost of providing an additional per month child benefit supplement to 429,000 children is shown in the table below:
|
Proposed Supplementary Amount |
Estimated Annual Cost (€) |
|
€50 |
€257,400,000 |
|
€75 |
€386,100,000 |
|
€100 |
€514,800,000 |
|
€125 |
€643,500,000 |
|
€150 |
€772,200,000 |
It is important to note that these figures represent a snapshot in time and further research and calculation would be required to refine them further. Any changes to payments would need to considered in an overall Budgetary context.
