Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Two measures in the budget are relevant to people with children, aside from the discussion we just had on people parenting on their own. The first is the increase payment of €5 a month to each child in receipt of child benefit. There is a commitment for a further increase of €5 in the next budget if resources permit. It is important to keep that caveat in mind. The economy is in recovery which we need to sustain. I cannot commit to significant promises until I see how resources go. With this morning’s announcement about the increased numbers in work, the outlook continues to be extremely positive. We know, however, there are growth difficulties in the eurozone which could impact on us. I am confident we will be able to meet that commitment.

The other development in the budget, specifically targeted at families with children is the back to work family dividend. This provision will be introduced in social welfare legislation next spring and enacted sometime before Easter. Someone in long-term unemployment who goes back to work will retain, through the family dividend on a sliding scale, the weekly payments they received from social welfare in respect of each qualified child increase payment which comes to under €30 a week. We have an extra 7,000 construction workers back at work. Taking that example, a construction worker with three qualifying children who was long-term unemployed will retain €90 per week of social welfare payments, in addition to family income supplement, FIS. In this year’s budget, we also made a significant additional provision for increased spending on FIS. As a consequence of the updating of the IT for the payment, we now have 44,000 families receiving the supplement in respect of 100,000 children.

All of us identify that families with children face significant burdens and challenges. I have always been a strong advocate for child benefit. It is paid directly to the caring parent, usually the mother. All of the evidence is that it is well spent on behalf of children. It goes to people in work and, importantly, the self-employed. In the case of a formerly self-employed person who has not got back to work, the cash flow from child benefit has been critically important to their families. The targeted back to work family dividend for the long-term unemployed going back to work ensures they receive qualifying child payments fully for one year and half for the second. This will be strong encouragement next year, along with the expanded FIS, to make the transition from social welfare back to work. When a person goes back to work, often they may start at a low pay level. These supports will, hopefully, smooth this transition for them so that it is absolutely clear from our system that working always pays. Every member recognises the social and financial, as well as the other, advantages of going back to work. When one is leaving the certainty of social welfare, however, for the relative uncertainty of the jobs market, even though one’s income potential is much higher, it can be a difficult transition. I am anxious to help families in that regard.