Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 59, 77 and 107 together.

Child benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16. Currently, the payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 18th birthday where they are in full-time education or have a disability. In budget 2024, the Government decided to extend the payment of child benefit to 18-year-olds who are in full-time education or have a disability. This was one of my key priorities in the budget.

With many children now starting primary school at age five, together with the increase in pupils doing transition year, there has been an increase in the number of 18-year-olds still in secondary education. I believe the extension of child benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education is a long-term change for the better and will support families across Ireland into the future.

This is a significant change to the child benefit scheme. It requires technical and operational changes before implementation.

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We had originally provided that the change would take effect from September this year. However, I am very pleased that we are now able to bring in this important change from an earlier date and I have secured Government approval to do that. As a result, the measure will be brought in from 1 May. In the region of 60,000 children are expected to benefit from this measure annually. The additional estimated cost of bringing the commencement date forward to May is €21.6 million.

In the case of a child who turned 18 after May 2023 and who is still in full-time education, child benefit will be payable again from May 2024 up to their 19th birthday or until they leave full-time education, whichever is sooner. This might include his or her first year in university. As the measure comes into effect from 1 May, where a child turns 18 in the meantime, there will be no payment for any intervening period up to May 2024, which is the usual approach for changes to the social welfare system that take effect from a future date. The Department will be in contact with these recipients of child benefit over the coming months to advise of the next steps.

To clarify, if your child is in full-time education, be it secondary school or college, you will get the payment until he or she reaches the age of 19 providing he or she can prove he or she is in full-time education. If someone finishes secondary school in June and gets the form signed when he or she goes to college in September to say that he or she is still in either in secondary school or college, the payment will commence in September and it will be backdated for a couple of months in the intervening months. That has always been the case with child benefit because you know that you have to get it certified that your children are in full-time education. Some people have contacted me and told me that their child was 18 in January and they will not get the payment until May but if I had not done this, nobody would have benefitted so it would end at age 18. If I had left it to September, fewer people would have benefitted so in bringing it forward to May, the good news is that every family will benefit from May onwards. We all love to do these things sooner but this is a long-term change for the better. When I announced it last year in the budget, many were disappointed because they thought it was coming in straight away but now I have been able to bring it forward to May.

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