Social Protection | To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total number of recipients of child benefit payments

To ask the Minister for Social Protection the total number of recipients of child benefit payments; the extent to which this has fluctuated over the past two years and is likely to so do in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The attached tabular statement outlines the monthly recipients of Child Benefit in April 2020, April 2021 and April 2022. There was a fall  in recipients of approximately 0.2% between 2020 and 2021, followed by an increase of approximately 0.4% between 2021 and 2022.

By close of business on 1st May 2022, there were 6,104 awarded child benefit claims awarded to people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

My Department has taken note of the latest CSO Regional Projections  which forecasts a fall in the birth rate for all migration and fertility scenarios between 2017 and 2036.