Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 453: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason the payment in respect of a child of a lone parent is €19.30 per week and that of a carer's child is €16.80 per week. [38657/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides child income support in a number of ways. The principal support is child benefit, CB, a universal payment which is neutral vis-a-vis the employment status of the child's parents and does not contribute to poverty traps. In addition to CB, child dependant increases, CDIs, are paid to social welfare recipients in respect of qualified child dependants.

At one point there were 36 different rates of CDI. There are currently three different weekly rates, €16.80, €19.30 and €21.60, depending on the type of payment. Half rate CDI may also be paid in respect of a child in certain circumstances, for example where both of the child's parents are receiving a social welfare payment, or where one parent has earnings over a prescribed amount. The policy in recent years has been to maintain the rate of CDIs constant while concentrating additional resources in CB.

It has been the policy of successive Governments to maintain child dependant rates at existing levels in favour of concentrating additional resources on increasing child benefit, resulting in significant increases in child benefit for all families. Any change to existing policy, including child dependant increases, would be for consideration in a Budgetary context and in the context of an overall review of targeted child income supports.