Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Financial supports are transferred directly to parents through child income supports, the provision of which is based on the premise that it is appropriate that the State shares with parents the costs of rearing and maintaining children. The broad objectives are to bring about an improvement in the relative overall position of families with children compared with single persons or childless couples and to alleviate child poverty. The principal child-centred income support is child benefit, payable in respect of children up to the age of 16 years and to age 19 in the case of children who are in full-time education or suffering from a long-term disability. Payment is not affected by parental means or employment status.

The Department's other main child income supports are the increase for a qualified child, IQC, which is paid in addition to social welfare payments to age 18 and extended, in most schemes, to age 22 where the child is in full-time education and family income supplement, which is paid to low-income employees working a specified minimum number of hours per fortnight and who have at least one qualified child. In addition, the early child care supplement, paid by my Department on behalf of the Office of the Minister for Children in respect of all children under six years of age who receive child benefit, makes a significant contribution to recipient families.

For a number of years, Government policy has been to invest additional resources in child benefit. This policy focus was driven, in part, by the recognition that the loss of IQC payments by social welfare recipients on taking up employment could act as a disincentive to availing of work opportunities. In terms of tackling work disincentives, the shift towards child benefit has been significant. For example, in 1994 child benefit represented 29% of the total child income support payment for a four-child family and is now 64%. In other words, a family will now only lose 36% of its child income support when a welfare recipient loses entitlement to a primary social welfare payment.

Under the terms of an earlier social partnership agreement, the National Economic and Social Council was asked to examine the feasibility of merging the family income supplement with IQC, with a view to creating a single second-tier child income support. This commitment to examine such a change was subsequently embodied in the current social partnership agreement Towards 2016. Dr. John Sweeney was commissioned by NESC to examine the issues and develop proposals for a second-tier child income support scheme. His research paper on this issue was received towards the end of 2007.

In considering the future direction of child income support policy, it is important to keep in mind the multiple objectives behind the provision of such support and to maintain the correct balance between child benefit and more selective measures.

Dr. Sweeney's research paper, which is an important contribution to the debate, is being examined at present.

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