Foreign child benefit set to hit €70m

CHILD benefit claims by EU workers in Ireland for their families living abroad are set to hit €70 million a year after applications quadrupled in the space of four months.

After sparking a political row in January, the number of claims being received per week increased from 80 to more than 300, due to the publicity given to the availability of the payments.

With each claim covering two children on average, by the end of this year the Department of Social and Family Affairs expects to have dealt with around 15,000 claims for 30,000 children.