Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the measures his Department is taking to combat child poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22343/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Detailed measures to give effect to the strategies to combat child poverty in Ireland are set out in the national action plan against poverty and social exclusion and in the national children's strategy. Ending child poverty is also one of ten special initiatives in Sustaining Progress.

The most significant measure to support families with children in recent years has been the substantial real increases in child benefit payment rates. Between 1997 and 2005, the rate of child benefit rose from €38.09 per month for the first two children and €49.52 for each child thereafter to €141.60 per month for each of the first two children and to €177.30 per month for the third and each subsequent child. This equates to real increases in excess of 170%. Child benefit is paid to over 540,000 families in respect of approximately 1 million children, at an estimated cost of €1.9 billion in 2005. It delivers a standard rate of payment in respect of all children in a family regardless of income levels or employment status. Providing income support in this way creates no obstacles to employment and facilitates employment take-up by providing significant support with child care costs.

Through the family income supplement scheme, my Department provides cash support by way of weekly payments to families at work on low pay. Recent improvements to the scheme, including the assessment of entitlements on the basis of net rather than gross income and progressive increases in the income limits, have made it easier for more lower-income households to qualify under the scheme. In a significant proportion of households with children, there is no full-time or part-time employment. These households mainly include recipients of the one parent family payment, or of payments in respect of disability and unemployment. In other households with bigger families, only one parent may be able to take up employment, which results in a lower family income. A study is currently being carried out by the NESC into the possibility of amalgamating child dependent allowances and family income supplement into a second tier of child income support aimed at families on low incomes. A sub-group of the senior officials group on social inclusion has been undertaking a detailed examination of obstacles to employment for lone parents. As part of this work, my Department is nearing the completion of a review of income supports and I hope to complete this work in the near future.

The provision of affordable and flexible child care is also a key factor in facilitating employment participation for families with children. My Department is participating in an inter-departmental working group on early child care and education, chaired by the National Children's Office. The work of this committee is at an advanced stage and the outcome will make an important contribution to finding the right mix of services and income support to facilitate employment take up and care for children.

We also need to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of the policies being pursued on the development of our children and get the necessary evidence on what works and works well. This process is about to commence with a major national longitudinal study on children. My Department and the Department of Health and Children, through the National Children's Office, are jointly funding this study. The study will be the most significant of its kind to be undertaken here, particularly in terms of the cost, scope and length of study period. It is anticipated that 10,000 children from birth and 8,000 children aged nine will be recruited to participate in the study.

I am confident that, through the measures already being taken and the initiatives being planned, we can make a major contribution to ensuring that vulnerable families and their children have a fair share of life chances and quality of life.