Double payments of child benefit to be issued from today

The payment is the second of eight planned lump sum payments being given to families and vulnerable persons amid the current cost of living crisis.  Picture: PA

More than 630,000 families will get a double child benefit payment from today, as part of the Government’s efforts to tackle the cost of living crisis.

The payment of €280 is being paid out in respect of 1.2m children in 638,000 families, Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys said.

She announced the details during a visit to the Ballyroan Community and Youth Centre in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

“The double child benefit payment will be received in people’s bank accounts beginning from today,” she said. 

The monthly payment for children is usually €140, meaning this move doubles that amount for November. The payment is not means-tested and is paid out for all children up to the age of 16, and for children up to 18 years of age if they are in full-time education or have a disability.

Cork has the second-largest number of families receiving child benefit per county at 70,822 topped only by Dublin at 170,191.

In Limerick, 24,847 families will receive this double payment, and in Tipperary 20,911 families. Families in other Munster counties will also see the increase including 18,336 in Kerry and 15,817 in Clare.

In Waterford, 15,583 families will get this payment.

Counties other than Cork and Dublin with large numbers of families with young children include Kildare with 33,830, Galway with 32,758, and Meath with 30,958.

There are also 20,386 eligible families in Wicklow and 20,858 in Wexford. Leitrim has the lowest number of families per county eligible for this payment at 4,287.

The department’s figures also show 4,319 families living in other areas will get this payment.

“It follows the Autumn Double Payment last month, which supported 1.4m pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, and working families,” Ms Humphreys said.

And over the course of the next few weeks, I will be announcing the details of further lump sum payments to support people with their household bills.

This is the second of eight lump sum payments being given to help families cope with rising costs, particularly energy costs, with a package of €1.2bn set aside in total.

These will include the €400 lump sum fuel allowance payment, €200 payment for people living alone, a €500 payment for carers, €500 support for people with disabilities, and a €500 payment for people receiving the Working Family Payment. 

The eighth payment in this package is the Christmas bonus for social welfare recipients.

“This €1.2bn package of lump sum payments is about helping families and our most vulnerable with the rising costs they are facing over the winter period,” Ms Humphries said.

St Vincent de Paul has previously welcomed these increases, but warned they do not offer a full solution for families in poverty.

Head of Social Justice Dr Tricia Keilthy said: “The cost of living measures such as the one-off fuel allowance payment and double social welfare payment will help low-income households during what will be a very difficult winter, but they are only temporary."

She said, at the time these allowances were announced as part of Budget 2023: "The failure to address the impact of inflation on low-income households beyond short-term measures puts many people at risk of being pulled further into the kind of grinding daily hardship that is very difficult to escape." 

Recipient numbers by county:

County		Recipients of Child Benefit
Clare		15,817
Cork		70,822
Cavan		10,607
Carlow		8,333
Donegal		20,497
Dublin		170,191
Galway		32,758
Kildare		33,830
Kilkenny		12,800
Kerry		18,336
Longford		5,782
Louth		18,480
Limerick		24,847
Leitrim		4,287
Laois		12,279
Meath		30,958
Monaghan		8,238
Mayo		15,901
Offaly		10,432
Roscommon		8,411
Sligo		8,102
Tipperary		20,911
Waterford		15,583
Westmeath		12,582
Wicklow		20,386
Wexford		20,858
Other		4,319

Source: Department of Rural and Community Development