Holly Cairns
Question:96. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will increase the qualified child payment in line with inflation. [26528/23]
View answerWednesday, 31 May 2023
Questions (96)
Written answers
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 increased 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 addition to once-off measures to help ease the cost-of-living pressures for low-income households. For example, a lone parent with two children will have seen a €16 increase in their weekly rate from January 2023. The improvements to the Working Family Payment thresholds also targets low-income families with children, resulting in a weekly increase of up to €24.
The ERSI post budget analysis shows that the income of lone parent households will remain essentially stable as a consequence of the Budget 2023 measures introduced which indicates that the Government measures are, in the main, effective at protecting lone parent households from the impact of significant levels of inflation.
Any further changes to the value of the increase for a qualified child would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.