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13th September 2024
10:46am BST
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has spoken out about possibly increasing child benefit payments in Ireland.
The Minister believes in a one-off quadruple payment of child benefit support in a child’s early life.
She told reporters in Tullamore, Co. Offaly that increasing child benefit is a good idea, especially for parents of younger children and infants.
She stated: "I actually think it’s a good idea but again, these things all have to be considered in the context of the Budget.
"There’s going to be a lot of kites that would be flown between now and the Budget.
"What I plan to do is I’ll try and catch as many as I can, put them in my pocket, and on Budget day, we’ll pull them back out again – and we’ll see what comes out," she shared.
Her comments come after Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman called for child benefits to be doubled in the first month of a child's life.
He expressed his support for a once-off payment of €560 in the first month of a newborn's life.
Last year, Government introduced a once-off double child benefit payment, but will the measure return in this year's budget?
According to The Irish Mirror, Humphreys said it will be considered in this year's budget.
"We did have a double payment last year and I know that was very, very popular in the run-up to Christmas.
"While inflation has dropped, it is still expensive," she continued.
"I know myself from doing the shopping that it's quite expensive by the time you get to the till and people are feeling it in their pockets so what we want to do is put more money back in people’s pockets and we want to help them," she stated.
