Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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57. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will expand on the provisions contained in budget 2021 that intend to reduce child poverty in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31352/20]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I welcome the child poverty and social protection measure introduced in Budget 2021 by my Government colleague Minister Humphreys and other Government colleagues.

The reduction of child poverty is a key political priority for the Government and this has been reflected in the measures introduced over the last five budgets including Budget 2021.

Under the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People, my Department, in collaboration with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and other Departments, is taking a whole-of-government approach to tackling child poverty.

Social transfers play a crucial role in alleviating poverty and inequality and Ireland is among the best performing EU States for reducing poverty through social transfers.

Under Budget 2021, the additional €5.5 million investment in the hot school meals programme will mean the provision of a hot school meal for up to 35,000 more children in the coming year.

The cost of raising children, particularly older children, is a significant factor in determining income need. In recognition of this, the budget also introduced other welcome measures such as the increase in the Qualified Child Allowance by €5 for children over 12 and €2 for children under 12. The weekly payment for a qualified child aged 12 or over will increase from €40 to €45, while the payment for a child aged under 12 will increase from €36 to €38. These changes represent increases for over 419,000 children in households, which are dependent on social welfare and will take effect from January 2021.

Other Social Protection measures introduced in Budget 2021 in relation to poverty reduction include:

- Parental Benefit increasing to 5 weeks for parents of children born or adopted from November 2019 –an increase of 3 weeks;

- A €10 increase in the weekly income threshold for Working Family Payment for families with up to three children to help working parents on low incomes; and

- Working lone parents will no longer lose their One-Parent Family Payment when their employment income exceeds the current €425 limit. This limit of €425 will be removed from April 2021.

Further supports in education are being provided as part of the DEIS programme to those schools catering for the highest concentrations of educational disadvantage. This will be supported by additional funding of €2 million in 2021 and €5 million in a full year.

In Budget 2021 I have secured extra funding of some €121 million for Tusla, International Protection Seekers Accommodation, and Youth services, bringing the total investment by his Department to over €1.9 billion for 2021.

The increase of €61m in funding for Tusla alone will meet increasing demand for existing services including residential care, supporting the community and voluntary sector, services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence, and unaccompanied minors.

The significant additional funding for my Department will be targeted at improving outcomes for children, young people and their families as well as the promotion of equality and human rights. The funding also provides for the inclusion and integration of persons seeking international protection.

The Deputy will also be aware of my commitment to ensure that a central focus of the successor strategy to Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures will be on addressing poverty for children and young people. This will be developed in 2021.