Child Benefit rates will not be cut to fund a second rate for less well-off families
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, said on Monday that two rates of the benefit are being considered and that 'nothing is off the table' when it comes to a more targeted Child Benefit payment.
'We are looking for more targeted responses on the child poverty issue,' he said.
Government sources indicated last night that there would be no question of reducing the universal €140 rate to fund the new top-up rate.
Child Benefit was cut in 2010 to €140 a month and while one-off double payments have been made, the rate has not increased in 14 years.
The history of Child Benefit being cut during the recession has resulted in some 'anxiety' among parents that it would be cut again, according to a source, but another cut to the universal rate would not be politically viable now.
'It is not 2010, and while we had some cover to do it then, we definitely wouldn't have the cover to do it now,' a source said.
Meanwhile, one government TD is calling for children with a disability to be included in any second-tier payment.
Fianna Fáil's Catherine Ardagh said there are 'huge costs' to raising a child with a disability and that including them in a top-up payment is 'the right thing to do'.
She said additional costs can include a range of therapies that many families have to pay for privately, but also additional activities or separate days out from the rest of the family to suit a child's needs.
The Dublin South-West TD said the new second-tier payment needs to be introduced 'as a matter of urgency', but more senior sources suggest that it is not guaranteed in next year's Budget and may well be the following year.
The ESRI recommended the second-tier payment as a way of reducing child poverty.
Over 100,000 children in Ireland live in consistent poverty.
About half are children of lone parents or parents with a disability.
The ESRI's Karina Doorley said that the welfare system is the best way to reduce child poverty.
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