The first child benefit payments for the parents of certain 18-year-old adults will be issued from today.
The payment, which was announced by Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys today, will be offered for 18-year-olds who are still in full-time education, or who have a disability, up until their 19th birthday. Around 60,000 young people are eligible under these categories.
According to the Children Act 2001, “adult” is defined as “any person of or over the age of 18 years”, while “child” is defined as “a person under the age of 18 years”.
However, Humphreys said that the change in the child benefit system was appropriate, given changes in the ages at which people attend school in recent years.
“With many children now starting primary school at age five, together with the increase in pupils doing transition year, there has been an increase in the number of 18-year-olds still in secondary education,” she said.
“Child Benefit is one of the only mechanisms available to me to support and put more money back into the pockets of working families.”
The Minister added: “I believe the extension of Child Benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education is a long-term change for the better and will support families across Ireland into the future.”
Notably, according to the Minister, parents and guardian do not need to reapply if their child is in full-time education and the Department holds a current education certificate.
The child benefit payment will be reactivated from today as long as the education certificate is valid, and the payment will continue for as long as a valid education certificate is in place or the child turns 19 – whichever comes first.
Child benefit is paid on the first Tuesday of each month, at a rate of €140 per child.
Child Benefit is currently paid to over 650,000 families for over 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of more than €2.1 billion in the year of 2024.