Dr. Naomi Feely:

I will deal first with the question on income support payments. In our Child Poverty Monitor, we very clearly highlight the higher costs of older children to families. We do advocate for additional supports for the older child because we know such families are in need of targeted supports. In terms of our advocacy around the budget, we will advocate for resources to be provided for the child support payment, which is paid with the weekly social welfare rate for poor families.

In terms of a second-tier payment, we have examined the research undertaken by the ESRI. There are two reports which look at exploring a second-tier payment. There are some very welcome findings in them and there needs to be clear consideration of them, but if we do introduce a second-tier payment, we must ensure that families do not lose out. There must be careful consideration of when it is introduced, how it is targeted and what the tapering-off effects are. I will hand over to Dr. Corbett as I do not want to take up all the time.