Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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566. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing child benefit and the domiciliary care allowance by €5 in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41329/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 619,880 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of over €2 billion in 2017.

The estimated cost of increasing Child Benefit by €5 to €145 per child is in the region of €72 million for a full year. Given that Child Benefit is a universal payment this would not be a targeted approach. Such a proposal has significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.

Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly payment for a child, aged under 16 with a severe disability who requires ongoing care and attention, substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age.

The cost of the scheme for 2016 was approximately €133 million. If the rate of payment was increased in 2018 by €5 per month, from €309.50 to €314.50 per month, the additional cost would be in the region of €2.22million (based on a claimload of 37,000 children).