Mick Clifford: Leo tackles poverty with a €10 plaster

'Is every child not entitled to a right to be given at least an even chance of reaching their potential?'

The auction has begun, a kite sent swirling on the political breeze. This week we were informed that the budget in October may well include a hike of €10 in child benefit. For anybody with children, it will be a nice extra few euro each month. Around 650,000 families, including 1.2m children, will benefit from any such hike. The cost of applying it is estimated to be about €150m.

These giveaways tend to inform any budget when the exchequer is in rude health, but, according to the report flagging it in the Irish Independent, the proposed hike is part of a crusade of sorts by the Taoiseach to address child poverty. Really? The latest CSO Survey of Income and Living Conditions records that in 2022 there were 89,288 children living in consistent poverty, representing 7.5% of the total number of children in the country.