Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to review the age criteria under the child benefit scheme and link this payment to children who are still in full-time education which in some cases can be children over 17 years of age up to 19 years of age; in the case of third level education, if he will link this payment to students who qualify on means for the Student Universal Support Ireland grants up to 22 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11807/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Child benefit is a monthly payment to assist with the costs associated with raising children. It is paid to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education or who have a physical or mental disability. It is currently paid to around 623,000 families for 1.2 million children with an estimated spend of over €2 billion by my Department this year. Child benefit is an important source of income for families and in Budget 2016, the Government increased child benefit by €5 per month at a cost of €72 million.

The cost of extending child benefit to 18 year olds in second level education is estimated at €62.5 million. Obviously, it would be a multiple of that to extend it to young people into their twenties in education. As child benefit is a universal payment, any such proposal would not target those most in need of help from the State.

Families on low incomes can avail of a number of provisions to social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including an increase for a qualified child with primary social welfare payments, family income supplement for low-paid employees with children and the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for low-income families, which is paid at the full-time second level education rate.

In addition to this scheme, the main financial support available to students attending post-leaving certificate or higher education courses is the statutory based student grant scheme. This scheme, which is administered by SUSI, offers a means-tested grant scheme that provides maintenance and-or fee support to qualifying disadvantaged students. The combined effect of these schemes provides effective targeted assistance directly linked with household income and thereby supports low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.

Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Like my other colleagues, I congratulate the Minister on his appointment. I understand the sentiment in his reply. The reason I tabled this question is because of a number of people who came to my clinics over the past number of weeks and possibly months. They were isolated cases who would have had 19 year old children doing the leaving certificate and as a result, they would be above that threshold about which the Minister spoke. It would not be a large-scale extension of the scheme. It would affect families with children of up to 19 years of age doing the leaving certificate. Once they fall out of the scheme, they are unable to avail of the different options. It is extremely difficult for families to obtain family income supplement and it is a lengthy process. There are families on very low incomes or social welfare who are really struggling and all of it is associated with school. They find very difficult and expensive to make ends meet.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I understand the point the Deputy is making. I have to double check this but if I remember correctly, child benefit is paid to 16 and 17 year olds but not to 18 year olds. There would be many 18 year olds in leaving certificate year at this stage, not just 19 year olds, so I do not think we could extend it to 19 year olds but not 18 year olds. I see the case for it. When the scheme was introduced, fewer children would have taken transition year so there it would have been far less common for children aged 18 to be doing the leaving certificate whereas it is now quite common. In the context of the budget, I will certainly examine the possibility of extending it to 18 and 19 year olds who are still in sixth year. However, resources are always limited and this might be money that could be better targeted at the back to school clothing and footwear allowance, the fuel allowance or supports that target those most in need. It is certainly something I will look at.

Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for what seems like a positive response, namely, that he will, at the very minimum, examine it. This would be important because while quite a number of families have children aged up to 18 doing the leaving certificate, there is a reduced number with 19 year old children doing the leaving certificate. As the Minister can appreciate, it is extremely difficult and expensive for families. I know it all relates to financial budgets and constraints but it is important that the Minister reviews it and looks to extend it, even on a phased basis, so they can get support. Families are trying to put their children through school at 18 and 19 years of age, which is common for the leaving certificate, and it is hugely expensive and difficult for them. It would make a big difference to them if it was possible to extend it.

I hope the Minister will be able to do something in that regard and perhaps have some part of it put in place by the next budget. Perhaps the Minister will consider the other part of the question on the SUSI grants. I do not know if that is worth examining into the future in the second phase of the question. It is relevant and important for those families because they are means tested.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Given the costs to the taxpayer that are involved, I might look at the first part of the question first and the second part at a subsequent stage. I can certainly see how an anomaly might arise where a child in school turns 18 in sixth year and loses their child benefit, subsequently qualifies for a student grant when they get into college or a post-leaving certificate, PLC, course later that year and there is a gap in between where there is no financial support from the State. It is certainly something that I commit to examining between now and the budget but with the caveat of the obvious fact that there are potentially other areas of need that also have to be accounted for.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister for dealing with those questions so succinctly.