Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

My Department provides child income support in a number of ways. The principal support is child benefit, a universal payment which is neutral vis-À-vis the employment status of the child's parents and does not contribute to poverty traps. Over the period since 1997, the monthly rates of child benefit have increased by €103.51 at the lower rate and €127.78 at the higher rate, increases of 272% and 258% respectively.

Child benefit rates now stand at €141.60 per month for each of the first two children and €177.30 per month for the third and each subsequent child. Child benefit is paid to over 530,000 families is respect of over 1,020,000 children.

A second child income support is the child dependant allowance, paid in addition to weekly social welfare payments in respect of over 257,000 children at full rate and over 85,000 at half rate. Since 1994, successive Governments have held the rate of child dependant allowances constant while concentrating resources for child income support on the child benefit scheme. It is important to recognise that over that period, the combined weekly value of child benefit and child dependant allowance has increased by more than double the rate of inflation.

In addition, my Department provides cash support by way of weekly payments to families at work on low pay through the family income supplement scheme. A number of improvements have been made to the scheme over the years, including assessment of entitlement on the basis of net rather than gross income and progressive increases in the income thresholds, making it easier for lower income households to qualify for payment. As a result, there are currently over 15,800 families receiving a weekly FIS payment, reaching nearly 31,186 children. This is the highest number of FIS recipients in the history of the scheme.

The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme operates from the beginning of June to the end of September each year and is administered on behalf of my Department by the Health Service Executive. This payment is made in respect of a child if the parent is in receipt of a social welfare or health board payment, is participating in an approved employment scheme or attending a recognised education or training course and has household income at or below certain set levels. Under the scheme an allowance is payable in respect of qualified children aged from two years to 22 years.

In 2004, over 70,500 applications were approved under the scheme, benefiting some 153,400 children at a cost of €17 million. This year it is expected that the scheme will cost €18 million and that a similar number of children will benefit.

The social partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress, recognised the importance of targeting child income support at low income families with a commitment to examine the effectiveness of current arrangements. The National Economic and Social Council was asked to undertake an examination of the possible merging of family income supplement and child dependant allowance into a second tier child income support. Such a payment would be aimed specifically at targeting child poverty by channelling resources to low income families without creating significant disincentives to employment. The NESC is currently considering its draft report and I look forward to receiving a finalised report shortly, which will be of significant assistance in informing the future direction of child income support policy.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

I have committed myself to finding solutions by making sensible decisions that have at their core increased support for those who feel most vulnerable, neglected or apprehensive in our society, while at the same time working to bring about reforms that go behind the payments and aggressively strike at the very heart of the social issues that give rise to the need for welfare supports in the first place.

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