Social welfare Ireland: Taoiseach hints at child benefit shake up as 'nothing is off the table'

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that all options for addressing child poverty - including a second tier of child benefit - are on the table for Budget 2026.
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to "continue to support families with the cost of raising their family through the child benefit payment". It also commits to exploring a targeted Child Benefit. It follows calls for the introduction of a second tier of Child Benefit.
Speaking at the National Economic Dialogue in Dublin Castle, Mr Martin said he had identified "two very key areas" that he wanted Budget 2026 to prioritise, including disability and child poverty. The Taoiseach said targeted Child Benefit and all other prospects will be explored ahead of Budget 2026 in October.
He said: "We will be examining all aspects of [Child Benefit] and I have a [child poverty] unit within the Department [of an Taoiseach] that is focusing on these issues. I already spoke to Minister of Social Protection Dara Calleary on this, but nothing's off the table.
"There's a wide menu there that we can choose from to target resources to meaningfully impact on the child poverty situation. That's not just in terms of income supports, but also in terms of other initiatives in education, for example, the Deis+, which would target children in particular severe disadvantage and other areas.
"The Child Benefit remains, but I'm saying we're looking at more targeted responses on the child poverty issue, which can come across a number of instruments." When asked if it was too early to examine the prospect of a second tier of Child Benefit, the Taoiseach repeated that "nothing's off the table".
He added: "We're examining all options in perspective. We have to do something targeted and something that will have a meaningful impact on child poverty. Nothing is off the table. There is a very significant expenditure required for something like that as well. There's a range of measures for looking at this."
Mr Martin also called for a focus on disability in Budget 2026. This, he said, would include income supports for people with disabilities, investment in respite and supports for transport and mobility. He also said that progress on ending the means test for carers will "obviously come under consideration".
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