Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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527. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to clarify the qualifying conditions for the newborn baby grant announced in budget 2025; if children born in November 2024 qualify; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43088/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age. Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged 16,17 and 18 if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves.

Child Benefit becomes payable in respect of newborn babies in the month after their birth. Parents of children born in November of this year will therefore become eligible for Child Benefit from December onwards.

I was delighted, as part of Budget 2025, to have introduced a new baby grant of €280. This will be paid to families of babies born on or after 1 December 2024 in addition to their regular first month’s Child Benefit payment of €140. As a result, those families will receive a payment of €420 in respect of the first month after their child’s birth.

In order to issue this new payment some changes to my Department’s systems are required. As a result, the first new baby payment will issue in the new year in respect of those babies born in December.

This new payment will assist parents with the costs associated with new babies. It will provide additional financial support to a family to ensure adequate resources and that the material needs of a newborn are met. It is estimated that in 2025, the grant will be paid in respect of some 54,000 children, at a cost of approximately €15 million.

In Budget 2025, I also provided for two Child Benefit double payments to be paid before the end of this year. As a result, a double Child Benefit payment will issue to families on November 5th and December 3rd 2024. As stated, parents of those babies born at any time in November will be eligible for Child Benefit from December and therefore, eligible for the double Child Benefit payable in December. Each of these double payments will be paid to approximately 678,000 recipients in respect of approximately 1,227,000 children, at an estimated cost of €371.4 million.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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528. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to clarify the qualifying conditions for the double child benefit payment announced in budget 2025 and expected to be paid in November; if children born in November 2024 qualify; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43089/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age. Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged 16,17 and 18 if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves.

In Budget 2025, I provided for two Child Benefit double payments to be paid before the end of this year. As a result, a double Child Benefit payment will issue to families on November 5th and December 3rd 2024.

Child Benefit becomes payable in respect of newborn babies in the month after their birth. Parents of children born in November of this year will therefore become eligible for Child Benefit from December onwards, and qualify for the December double payment.

Each of these double payments will be paid to approximately 678,000 recipients in respect of approximately 1,227,000 children, at an estimated cost of €371.4 million.

In addition to these double payments, I was delighted to introduce a new baby grant of €280 as part of Budget 2025. This will be paid to families of babies born on or after 1 December 2024 in addition to their regular first month’s Child Benefit payment of €140. As a result, those families will receive a payment of €420 in respect of the first month after their child’s birth.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.