Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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682. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will amend the Social Welfare Bill 2022 to increase core rates to a minimum of €8, the QCI for children over 12 years by €10, and for children under 12 years by €5. [55034/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Most weekly social welfare payments include provision for an additional payment – an Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) – in respect of each qualified child up to the age of 18, which is extended to encompass older children to age 22 under certain circumstances. This measure provides targeted support to low-income families.

In Budget 2023, the IQC rates will increase by €2 – to €42 per child for under 12s and to €50 per week for those aged 12 and over. Over the last three Budgets, these rates have increased by €6 and €10 per week respectively.

These increases were provided in the context of an overall package which included a €12 rate increase for weekly schemes in 2023, in addition to €1.1 billion in special measures in 2022 to help ease the cost-of-living pressures for low-income households.

For example, a lone parent with two children will see a €16 increase in their weekly rate from January. The improvements to the Working Family Payment thresholds also targets low-income families with children, resulting in a weekly increase of up to €24.

Low-income families will also be assisted before January. They will have received a cost-of-living double payment last month, and again in December via the Christmas bonus. An additional Child Benefit payment was also paid on the 1st of November. Households in receipt of the Fuel Allowance will receive a €400 lump sum, and people in receipt of the Working Family Payment will receive a lump sum of €500. All households will also benefit from €600 of Energy Credits in the coming months.

The ESRI post-Budget analysis shows that Budget 2023 general increases from January, when combined with one-off measures delivered in 2022 to support households with the cost of living, will be effective in protecting most households from rising prices this winter.

Any further changes to the increase for a qualified child would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.