Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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283. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons to date who have applied for paternity benefit; the number of persons who have received paternity benefit in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2568/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The paternity benefit scheme became operational on 1^stSeptember 2016. The number of claims received and awarded in the period 1 September to 11 January 2017 is set out in the table:

Based on the number of applications received to date the Department expects to receive around 20,000 applications for paternity benefit during 2017. The budget allocation in respect of paternity benefit for 2017 is €16m.