Written answers
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Department of Social and Family Affairs
Social Welfare Benefits
10:00 pm
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 434: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of children in receipt of the early child care supplement here; the cost of this payment for 2008; the predicted cost for 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42918/08]
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 435: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of children receiving the early child care supplement outside the State; the cost of this payment for 2008; the predicted cost for 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42919/08]
Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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It is proposed to take Question Nos. 434 and 435 together.
The Early Childcare Supplement is administered by the Department of Social and Family Affairs on behalf of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The total number of resident children in receipt of the Early Childcare Supplement (ECS) at 1st November 2008 was 389,000. The expenditure for these children in 2008 is estimated to amount to circa €476m, while the projected cost in 2009 is €390m.
The number of non-resident children currently in receipt of the ECS payment is approximately 3,800. The estimated ECS expenditure for these children in 2008 is €4.4m. There is currently a significant backlog of claims for ECS payments for non-resident children waiting to be processed. This backlog is expected to be cleared in the first half of 2009 and as a result the number of non-resident children qualifying for the ECS is estimated to reach about 7,000, at a projected cost of approximately €7m.
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