Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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45. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his views on the impact on the income of families of the policy of stopping child benefit payments for schoolgoing children aged between 16 to 18 years of age for July and August and re-instating and backdating the payment for the two months when the child returns to school with a letter of confirmation that the child is attending school in the next term. [23043/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a universal payment to help families with the cost of raising children. It does not rely on a means test or social insurance contributions and is paid to the parents of qualified children up to the age of 16 years. For older children aged 16 and 17 years, child benefit is payable subject to a declaration from a parent, signed by their school, that their child is in full time education or that they have a disability.

The Department accepts that parents may have a difficulty getting schools to certify attendance during July and August, when schools are closed. While some parents may experience an issue with the timing of their payment over the summer period, there is no impact on the overall family income as payments are processed promptly on receipt of the certification and all arrears are paid in a timely manner.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.