A DOUBLE CHILD Benefit Payment will be paid to around 676,000 families tomorrow.

The payment was one of a number of cost of living supports announced as part of Budget 2025.

Today, outgoing Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said this payment will be made tomorrow.

Child Benefit is a monthly payment of €140 for each child, but will be doubled this month to €280 for each child.

It is paid to families with children up to the age of 16 years, but continues to be paid until their 19th birthday if they are in full-time education or have a disability.

The benefit is paid to around 676,000 families in respect of over 1.27 million children.

Over 1.38 million people will also receive the Christmas Bonus payment this week.

Both payments are paid automatically and people do not need to apply for them.

In October, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) criticised the government for failing to target cost-of-living supports such as extra child benefit and energy credits at those most in need, as opposed to universal measures.

IFAC said only around half of the €2.1 billion of cost-of-living measures were targeted at those who are most at need.

Universal measures such as energy credits, child benefit payments, and extensions to VAT cuts on electricity and gas make up €1 billion of this.

IFAC said the same supports could have been provided to those most in need and at a much lower cost.

Last year, research conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) found that the introduction of a means-tested extra child benefit payment could potentially take 40,000 children out of poverty. 

The report estimated that a means-tested second-tier of child benefit could reduce child poverty in Ireland by a quarter and the child poverty gap – how far below the poverty line those at-risk of-poverty are – by half at a cost of around €700 million, which would benefit over 100,000 households.

The reform would provide all households with children with a payment determined by their means and the number of children in the household.

The move has been recommended by the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, the National Economic and Social Council and the Children’s Rights Alliance among others.

But in September, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that while there was a “roadmap” to having a higher rate of Child Benefit for lower income families, the measure would not be included in Budget 2025.