Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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601. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the potential cost to the State of extending child benefit payments to children for an additional year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31304/17]

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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602. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to change the provisions in order that child benefit is payable until such a time as a child finishes secondary education, rather than determining it by age (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31305/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 601 and 602 together.

Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to around 626,525 families in respect of over 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of over €2 billion in 2017.

Budget 2009 reduced the age for eligibility for Child Benefit from 19 years to less than 18 years. A value for money review of child income supports, published by the Department of Social Protection in 2010, found that the participation pattern of children in education supports the current age limit for Child Benefit.

The current estimated annual cost of extending the upper age limit for payment for an additional year, i.e. for those persons who are 18 years and under 19 years of age and in secondary school, based on figures from the Department of Education and Skills, is over €62 million.

Families on low incomes can already 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 support low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.

Given the universal nature of Child Benefit extending child benefit payments to children for an additional year would not be a targeted approach. The adoption of such a proposal would also have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.