Written answers

Wednesday, 14 July 2021

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Departmental Data

Photo of Gary GannonGary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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246. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will reinstate child benefit payments to continue to be paid to families with children between the ages of 16-18 years over the summer months until school reopens given this practice was able to be facilitated in 2020 and in view of the continued extreme financial burden placed on families due to Covid-19; if this practice will be repeated in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38698/21]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child benefit is payable to age 16 years and is subsequently payable to age 18 where the child remains in full time education.

Where a child turns 16, the parent/guardian needs to get confirmation from the school that their child is still attending. Each month, the Department issues a notification to parents for all children who are due to turn 16, requesting this information.

Last year this requirement was deferred owing to the fact that schools were closed due to the Covid pandemic and it was accepted that having the forms completed by schools could present difficulty for parents.

As schools have been open in 2021, the normal process has applied this year and all parents should have received notification in the normal way. The Department was contacted by a number of parents who have not received payment in July and is aware that an issue has arisen in respect of a number of children who had been certified as in continued education by the department last year to the end of the 2021 academic year and where the relevant certification form for continuation of payment had not issued in time.

The Department has immediately addressed this issue and the Child Benefit payment in respect of July is being made on the 13th July for those paid by EFT and on the 14th July for those collecting their payment at a post office. In addition, eligibility for these children has been extended to the end of September 2021. A "continuing in education" certificate will issue in August in respect of these children, once completed by the school and returned, their eligibility can be further extended, either to the end of the education cycle or their 18th birthday, whichever comes first.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Photo of Gary GannonGary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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247. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of child benefit payments that were not paid 6 July 2021 due to children being over the age of 16 years within the summer months before school reopens.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38699/21]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child benefit is a monthly payment, payable to age 16 years and is subsequently payable to age 18 where the child remains in full time education.

Where a child turns 16, the parent/guardian needs to get confirmation from the school that their child is still attending. Each month, the Department issues a notification to parents for all children who are due to turn 16, requesting this information.

Last year this requirement was deferred owing to the fact that schools were closed due to the Covid pandemic and it was accepted that having the forms completed by schools could present difficulty for parents.

As schools have been open in 2021, the normal process has applied this year and all parents should have received notification in the normal way. The department has been contacted by a number of parents who have not received payment in July and is now aware that an issue has arisen in respect of around 26,500 children who had been certified as in continued education by the department last year to the end of the 2021 academic year and where the relevant certification form for continuation of payment had not issued in time.

The Department has immediately addressed this issue and the Child Benefit payment in respect of July is being made on the 13th July for those paid by EFT and on the 14th July for those collecting their payment at a post office. In addition eligibility for these children has been extended to the end of September 2021. A "continuing in education" certificate will issue in August in respect of these children, once completed by the school and returned, their eligibility can be further extended, either to the end of the education cycle or their 18th birthday, whichever comes first.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Photo of Gary GannonGary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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248. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of continuing child benefit to children who are over the age of 18 years and in post-primary school. [38700/21]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, 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 until their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child benefit is currently paid to over 637,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of more than €2.1 billion in 2021.

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

- Increase for a Qualified Child (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;

- the Working Family Payment for low-paid employees with children; and

- the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.

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

As part of Budget 2021, I increased the rates for a qualified child aged under 12 by €2 to €38 per week, and for a qualified child aged 12 or older by €5 to €45 per week. These increases came into effect in January.

Extending Child Benefit in respect of full time students in second level education who are over 18 years of age would have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context. The information required to accurately estimate the cost such of an extension is not available. However, each additional 1,000 single child benefit claims would cost approximately €1.68 million per year.

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