Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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31. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on child poverty measures in Budget 2021 to increase social welfare payments by €2 per child under 12 and €5 per child over 12. [31364/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Addressing child poverty requires a whole of Government approach as recognised in "Better Options - Brighter Futures" and in the Roadmap for Social Inclusion and income support for families is one key element of this.

Increases for a Qualified Child (IQCs) are paid as supplements to most weekly social welfare payments in recognition of the need for greater income support among benefit-dependent households with children. As at October 2020 there are an estimated 337,699 children supported by an increase for a qualified child.

In Budget 2021, I provided for the full rate of IQC to increase by €5 to €45 per week in respect of each child over 12 years, and by €2 to €38 per week in respect of each child under 12 years. The increases are structured in this way in recognition of the higher costs associated with older children.

An ESRI paper produced in advance of the Budget which focused on child poverty and the pandemic concluded that children now falling below the income poverty line tend to live in households that experienced large income losses because of employment losses. It further surmised that policies which increase the child-dependent components of social welfare schemes such as increases to qualified child rates would help to combat these losses.

As the measure targets those on the lowest incomes, it will assist those families most in need, such as lone parent families who have relatively high rates of poverty. I believe that this measure will have a direct and positive impact on the alleviation of child poverty.