Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 15: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a new child income support measure for children in low-income families, both in and out of work will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30935/05]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 17: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will introduce a second tier support payment for children in unemployed or low-wage households; if so, the progress which has been made to date in 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30853/05]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 37: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the one-off payment for the transition to secondary school will be introduced for all those on low-income family support or in receipt of social welfare payments. [31002/05]

Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 50: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he has received the report from the NESC on the possibility of introducing a second-tier payment for low income families and children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30830/05]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his plans to introduce a payment targeted at children living in poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30834/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 17, 27, 50 and 54 together.

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.

While this range of income and other supports has made very significant contributions to families with children, a key issue arises as to whether this level of resources is best used to address poverty among those families. While the solutions to this problem cover a wide range of measures including income supports and services, I am committed to reviewing the role of child income supports in this regard. The social partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress, also 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.

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.

In this context I look forward to receiving the NESC report, which will be of significant assistance in informing the future direction of child income support policy.