Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment is currently paid in respect of children until their eighteenth birthday who are in full-time education or who have a disability. The extension of Child Benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education was one of my key priorities as part of Budget 2024 and work on introducing this change is ongoing. I believe the extension of Child Benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education is a long-term change for the better and will support families across Ireland into the future. In order to be a qualified child for the purpose of Child Benefit, the child must, amongst other things, be ordinarily resident in this state. This requirement is deemed to be satisfied in cases of:

• members of the Irish Defence Forces or the Irish Civil Service serving abroad,
• volunteer development workers, and
• persons temporarily employed abroad by an Irish employer and paying Irish social insurance contributions.

Under EU law, Child Benefit is classified as a Family Benefit. Regulation (EC) 883 of 2004 provides that the country of employment pays family benefits even though the family may reside in another EU Member State, or another State within the European Economic Area. As such, Child Benefit can be payable even if the child or children are resident in another European Economic Area State. The amount of Child Benefit payable by my Department will depend on whether there is entitlement to family benefits from another European Economic Area State in respect of the same child or children. The claim should be made in the country of work which contacts the other country to ensure that the full entitlement is received. I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.