Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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343. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if child benefit is payable to fifth and sixth year students in secondary school that have reached 18 years of age; if he will review this situation to ensure that child benefit is payable in respect of all persons in full time second level education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11983/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is currently paid to around 625,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of over €2 billion in 2017.

Child Benefit is a universal payment paid in respect of all qualified children, who are ordinarily resident in the State, from the first month of their birth up until their 16^thbirthday. The Social Welfare Act does provide that Child Benefit can be paid between the ages of 16-18 in respect of children who are;

- Receiving full time education or

- Who have a disability.

Budget 2009 reduced the age for eligibility for Child Benefit from 19 years to less than 18 years.

Families on low incomes can avail of a number of provisions to social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:

- qualified child increases (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;

- family income supplement (FIS) for low-paid employees with children;

- the back to school clothing and footwear allowance for low income families (paid at the full-time second level education rate).

These schemes provide targeted assistance that is directly linked with household income and thereby supports low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.

Extending Child Benefit to students who are in full-time secondary education and who have reached 18 years of age if adopted would not be a targeted approach given the universality of Child Benefit. The adoption of such a proposal would have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.