Press release
Taoiseach publishes report on how Budget 2024 dealt with child poverty and child well-being
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has published the first cross-government report on Budget measures that will reduce child poverty and promote child well-being. The report, Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2024 to Reduce Child Poverty and Promote Well-being describes the enhanced steps the government is taking to help children to realise their potential and escape inter-generational cycles of poverty.
While the most substantial investment that Government makes in dealing with child poverty is through existing programmes and expenditures, this report provides a whole-of-government overview of new and additional spending in Budget 2024, reflecting the prioritisation of this critical issue.
In developing their Budget plans, every Government Minister considered their contribution to ending child poverty and promoting child well-being. This report outlines relevant actions and measures identified by 12 government departments.
These departments will continue to embed this focus as they develop more detailed spending and work planning in the coming months.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said:
“Budget 2024 strongly reflects my focus on reducing child poverty and promoting child well-being. This report describes progress on the six areas identified in the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Plan which we published just a couple of months ago.
“This is the first Budget under that Programme and it lays the groundwork for increased action on child poverty and child well-being in the coming years. Drawing on analysis by the ESRI, approximately 22,000 fewer children will face the risk of poverty as a consequence of these cross-government measures. This is a significant first step, but we are committed to building on the experience of Budget 2024 and will achieve more in the coming years.”
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman said:
“This is the first time that Government, as a whole, has been able to describe how diverse new and enhanced Budget measures will improve outcomes for children across the six priorities areas identified in the Programme Plan. Reducing child poverty requires that holistic approach and, taken together, these measures will transform lives. In Budget 2024, my department has made progress across several of the child poverty priorities including through a substantial enhanced investment in Early Learning and Care, increasing income support for children living in Direct Provision and increasing foster care payments.”
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said:
“Budget 2024 contained the largest Social Protection package in the history of the State, and I was determined it would have a strong focus on supporting families with children and tackling child poverty. Specific measures that my department will introduce include weekly rate increases for personal and children social welfare rates, extending Child Benefit to 18 year olds in full time education, the extension of Parent’s Benefit by two weeks to nine weeks and a significant expansion of the Hot School Meals programme, that will for the first time benefit many non-DEIS schools.
“Other social protection Budget measures designed to reduce child poverty include an increase in all family income thresholds of the Working Family Payment and a lump sum of €100 paid in respect of each child for whom a person receives an Increase for a Qualified Child. My department will also pay a range of cost of living payments, including double weekly payments in December, and January to parents in receipt of weekly social welfare payments and parents will also receive a double month’s payment of Child Benefit in December. Taken together these measures are progressive and importantly will have a positive impact on reducing child poverty.”
The Minister for Education Norma Foley said:
“Budget 2024 is an unprecedented investment in education and schools and, as this report shows, a significant part of that investment is aimed at reducing the cost of education for parents and ensuring that every child, regardless of their socio-economic circumstance, is able to realise their potential. Enhanced provision for free school books, school transport, as well as targeted measures such as the Summer Programme help support inclusion and equality of opportunity in education. Reducing the cost of education is a very important part of the wider agenda to reduce child poverty and enhance child well-being, which includes the long-standing investment in the DEIS programme.”
In December 2022, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced his intention to set up a Child Poverty Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach. On 1 August, the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme published its initial work programme for the next two and a half years From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Poverty and Well-being 2023-2025.
The initial Programme focuses six areas that will have the greatest impact on the lives of children who experience poverty. These six areas are:
1) Income supports and joblessness
2) Early learning and childcare
3) Reducing the cost of education
4) Family homelessness
5) Consolidating and integrating family and parental support, health and well-being
6) Enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for children and young people affected by poverty
The role of the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office is to drive implementation of a broad range of commitments that will impact on these six areas, but the Office will also undertake a small number of strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of cross-government responses to child poverty. This includes supporting a specific focus on child poverty at Budget time.
The report on Budget measures that will reduce child poverty and promote child well-being can be accessed on the Child Poverty and Well-Being Programme Office website.