Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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90. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of administering the child benefit scheme; the estimated administration cost of a means-tested child benefit scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39850/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Child benefit is a universal payment made to families with children. It assists those families with the cost associated with raising children. It is paid to almost 1.2 million children in over 600,000 families. The estimated expenditure in 2014 will be €1.9 billion. The cost of the administration of the scheme is in the order of €7.5 million per annum. The Department of Social Protection has not estimated the administrative cost of introducing a means tested child benefit scheme. There is therefore no reliable estimate of the approximate cost of introducing a means tested system for 600,000 families but this would cost a large multiple of the current administration cost. It would also take a significant time to design and implement.

The Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare examined the structure of child and family income support in Ireland. As part of this examination the Group considered the means testing of child benefit but stated that such a system would have considerable administrative consequences, as the scale of means testing would be considerably greater than anything required by the current system. Instead the Group recommended, among other things, that child benefit should continue to be paid on a universal basis.

I am pleased to say that in Budget 2015 it has been possible to increase Child Benefit by €5, from €130 to €135 per month which will benefit over 611,000 households with children.

This recognises the sacrifices that families made during the economic crisis and the fact that families are continuing to face difficulties. In the Statement of Priorities published earlier this year, the Government promised a new deal on living standards for hard-pressed families, and this increase is in line with that commitment.

In addition, I introduced a new Back to Work Family Dividend for long-term unemployed jobseekers with children who leave welfare to return to work. These families will, from January, be able to retain the child-related portion of their social welfare payment on a tapered basis over two years. This includes those who move to self-employment, such as the construction sector. It will also apply to One Parent Family Payment recipients who similarly go back into the workforce.

The scheme will be worth €1,550 per child in the first year of employment or self-employment and half that amount again in the second year.

The Dividend will help increase the pace of the progress we are making in helping people back to work. It will help boost the recovery, reduce welfare expenditure in the long-run, and, most importantly, help the families in question to build a better financial future for themselves.

I also provided for an additional €2 million for the School Meals scheme in 2015. In total over €2.4 billion will be provide for child related payments in 2015, up €125 million over this year.