Claiming for a child dependant

Your social welfare payment is made up of a weekly amount for yourself, called the personal rate. You may also get an extra amount for your child called a Child Support Payment (CSP). The CSP was previously called an Increase for a Qualified Child or IQC.

You do not get an CSP with certain payments, and in some circumstances you may only get a half-rate CSP – see ‘When is an CSP not paid?’ and 'Full rate and half-rate increases' below.

If you have an adult dependant, you may get an Increase for a Qualified Adult.

Budget 2025 changes to Increase for a Qualified Child

It was announced in Budget 2025:

• A once-off payment of €100 for each qualifying child will be paid people who get an increase for a qualified child (November 2024)
• The Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) will be renamed the Child Support Payment (CSP)
• The weekly rate will increase by €4 from €46 to €50, for children under 12 years of age, and by €8 from €54 to €62 for children aged 12 years and over (January 2025).

To get an Child Support Payment (CSP), your child must:

• Live with you
• Meet the age requirement for that payment
• Be resident in the State
• Not be in legal custody (detained in a detention school)

Your child does not have to be financially dependent on you. Your child can work and earn money, without affecting the increase paid to you. An CSP can be paid on behalf of foster children.

However, you generally do not get an CSP if your child is getting their own social welfare payment, except in certain circumstances (see ‘If your child is getting a social welfare payment’ below).

Absent from the State

Depending on your social welfare payment, you may continue getting an CSP if your child is absent from the State (abroad).

Children under 18

A child dependant is usually a child up to 18 years of age who lives with you.

Children aged 18 and over

If your child is 18 or over, you can continue getting an CSP for 3 months after they leave second level education, or finish the Leaving Certificate (if they are not getting a social welfare payment in their own right). You can still get an CSP if your child starts work immediately after finishing school.

If your child is in full-time education and you are getting a long-term social welfare payment, or a short-term social welfare payment for at least 156 days, you will get an CSP:

• Until your child turns 22, or
• Until the end of the academic year in which they turn 22

If you are getting a short-term social welfare payment, time spent on other social welfare payments can be combined to meet the 156 days. However, the period between any 2 payments cannot be more than 26 weeks. In the case of Jobseeker's Allowance payments, the period between payments cannot be more than 52 weeks.

What counts as full-time education?

Your child is considered to be in full-time education if they attend a course which awards 60 credits per academic year. There are no rules about the number of ‘class hours’ your child must have. If the institution delivering the course considers it a full-time course, this means the course has a full-time workload.

Full-time education does not include any training provided by SOLAS or an Education and Training Board where:

• Your child is paid an allowance
• Their period of work experience is greater than the period of training or instruction
• The training forms part of an employment or work experience programme

However, YouthReach is the one exception.

You do not get an Child Support Payment (CSP) with the following payments:

• Working Family Payment
• Guardian's Payment (Contributory)
• Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory)
• Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension
• Death Benefit by way of Orphan’s Payment

You do not get an CSP if the gross income of your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is over €400, and you get one of the following payments:

• Illness Benefit
• Injury Benefit
• Health and Safety Benefit
• Jobseeker's Benefit or Disablement Benefit (Incapacity Supplement)
• Invalidity Pension
• Carer's Benefit
• State Pension (Contributory)

If your child gets a social welfare payment

You do not get an CSP if your child is getting a social welfare payment or Supplementary Welfare Allowance in their own right (with the exception of Disablement Benefit).

However, if you are getting an CSP during the summer holiday period between academic years and your child becomes entitled to a social welfare payment in their own right, you will continue to get the CSP and your child's payment is reduced by the amount of the CSP.

For most social welfare payments, you get a full-rate Child Support Payment (CSP) if you:

• Get an Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA) for your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, or
• Are parenting alone

You get a half-rate CSP if your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant has an income of between €310 and €400 a week. However, different rules apply to:

• Carer’s Allowance
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Disability Allowance
• Farm Assist

Only one increase is paid for each qualified child. If you and your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant are both getting a social welfare payment, you will each get a half-rate CSP for each child.

If you get an Increase for a Qualified Adult with Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA), you get a full-rate CSP. A half-rate CSP is not payable with SWA.

Carer's Allowance

You get a full-rate CSP with Carer's Allowance if you are parenting alone.

You get a half-rate CSP with Carer's Allowance if you are living with your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant.

If you are getting half-rate Carer's Allowance, you do not get an CSP. This is because the CSP is already included in your, or your partner’s, main social welfare payment.

Jobseeker's Allowance, Disability Allowance, and Farm Assist

For Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA), Disability Allowance (DA), and Farm Assist (FA), your total household income is assessed in a means test.

Your assessable means are then deducted from the maximum payment for your circumstances, to find the actual amount of JA, DA or FA you are entitled to.

Since January 2024, the Child Support Payment (CSP) is:

To get an Child Support Payment, you must give details about your child dependant on your claim form when you apply for a social welfare payment.

If you did not claim for your child dependant at the time you made your claim, you should contact the section in the Department of Social Protection which pays your social welfare payment, or your local Intreo or Branch office.