LAST UPDATE | 17 Sep 2024

TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has said there is a “roadmap” to having a higher rate of Child Benefit for lower income families.

However, the measure will not be included in the upcoming Budget.

The Child Benefit is a monthly payment to parents or guardians of children under 16, and it is also paid for children aged 16, 17, and 18 if they are in full-time education or training, or if they have a disability and cannot support themselves.

The Child Benefit is €140 a month for each child and is a universal payment, meaning it is paid regardless of people’s incomes.

Speaking to reporters today, Harris said the “Child Benefit as a universal measure is an important attachment that we have in this country to the importance of raising a child”.

Harris also said that he’s “not happy with child poverty rates” and while he could “point to statistics to show progress”, he had “no intention of doing that”.

“There are too many children that are hungry in Ireland,” said Harris, who then mentioned “holiday hunger” as an issue that needs to be tackled.

“There are too many children who get a hot school meal during school time that don’t get fed during the summer, what we call ‘holiday hunger’”, said Harris.

Last month, Harris said he was looking at ways to expand the hot school meals scheme into the school holidays for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

And while Harris today said he “fully agrees that there needs to be targeted measures to tackle the issue of child poverty,” he added that “the Government hasn’t signed off on any such measures yet”.

“But I am really clear on this,” said Harris, “that I do want to see specific measures in this Budget around the children most in need and I met with my officials in the Department today in relation to that.”

He added that “we can do exciting, impactful things in Budget 2025”.

When asked if this could include two rates of Child Benefit, Harris said he “certainly doesn’t rule out the idea of having two rates of Child Benefit” and that “there’s a roadmap to how you get there”.

However, he did “rule out being able to do it in the Budget” and added: “I don’t believe even administratively that it would be possible to do it in this Budget.”

“I think it’s really important that we have a universal benefit that’s paid to all children and paid to all parents,” said Harris.

“There are also children though who are more in need, and we have to look at how we best help them.

“There are a number of ways in which we already help, the Working Family Payment is one and the Qualified Child Allowance is another,” added Harris.