2105. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the projected cost in 2027 of introducing a second tier of child benefit, modelled on the proposal for a child income support payment from the ESRI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59025/26]

The ESRI proposed a model for a Second-Tier Child Benefit which would abolish the existing Child Support Payment and remove the working requirement for the Working Family Payment. The new payment would then be paid in addition to a family’s primary payment.

The ESRI’s proposal was an interesting and informative suggestion which officials in my Department considered at length. However, the ESRI analysis states that under its proposal, that households with up to 100,000 children could see losses in household income. This is not an acceptable outcome for a measure intended to tackle child poverty.

In addition, under the ESRI proposal, there would no longer be a higher rate paid for children aged 12 and over. The age-differentiated rates of Child Support Payment have been broadly welcomed by stakeholders and have been shown to be effective in addressing the higher costs associated with raising older children.

Subsequently, my Department launched a public consultation on 5 May on a potential new targeted child payment (also referred to as a second-tier child benefit). The proposed targeted child payment was informed by the work of the ESRI but differed in a number of design features. The public consultation on the proposed targeted child payment concluded on 12 June.

These are complex reforms, and it will take time to consider the input from the consultation process, and to progress more detailed design. Until a more comprehensive design is completed it is not possible to provide the project cost of the reforms.