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 an Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC). If you have an adult dependant you may get an Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA).
You will not get an Increase for a Qualified Child with the following payments:
This document explains when you may get an increase in your weekly social welfare payment for a child dependant.
It was announced in Budget 2012 that some changes to the Qualifed Child Increase are being made.
Payment of two qualified child increases where the person is on a Community
Employment Scheme and One Parent Family Payment, Deserted Wife’s
Allowance/Benefit or Widow(er)’s Pensions will cease for new and existing
recipients (20 February 2012).
To get an Increase for a Qualified Child, your child must:
A child dependant is usually a child up to 18 years of age who lives with you. If your child is working you can still claim an Increase for a Qualified Child. You will not get an Increase for a Qualified Child if your child has a social welfare payment (except Supplementary Welfare Allowance) payment in their own right.
If your child is 18 years of age or over, you can continue to get an Increase for a Qualified Child for three months after he or she leaves second level education or finishes the Leaving Certificate.
If you are getting a long-term social welfare payment and your child is in full-time education, an Increase for a Qualified Child will be paid up to 22 years of age or up to the end of the academic year in which he or she reaches 22.
If you are getting a short-term social welfare payment for at least 156 days and your child is in full-time education, an Increase for a Qualified Child will be paid up to 22 years of age or up to the end of the academic year in which he or she reaches 22. Time spent on other social welfare payments can be combined to meet the 156 days but the period between any two payments must not be more than 26 weeks. The period between Jobseeker's Allowance payments must not be more than 52 weeks.
Full-time education does not include training provided by FÁS where an allowance is paid or where the period of work experience is greater than the period of training or instruction or where the training forms part of an employment or work experience programme. One exception to this is YouthReach.
If you have been getting Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker's Benefit for at least 12 months and a full-rate Increase for a Qualified Child, you can continue to get your Increase for a Qualified Child for 13 weeks if you take up work that is expected to last at least 4 weeks. This does not apply to seasonal work or Community Employment.
If you are eligible for a 13 week
continued Increase for a Qualified Child and are also eligible for Family
Income Supplement (FIS) you can choose to be paid the Increase for a
Qualified Child for 13 weeks instead of FIS if this is more beneficial.
You will get the full rate Increase for an Qualified Child if you get an Increase for a Qualified Adult for your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant or you are a lone parent.
You will only get a half rate Increase for a Qualified Child if your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant has an income of over €310 a week or has a social welfare payment in their own right. If you and your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant are each getting a social welfare payment you will each get half the Increase for a Qualified Child.
You will not get any Increase for a Qualified Child if you are claiming Illness Benefit, Injury Benefit, Health and Safety Benefit, Jobseeker's Benefit or Incapacity Supplement and your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's gross income is over €400.
| Social insurance payment | Increase for a Qualified Child (half rate in 2012) | Increase for a Qualified Child (full rate in 2012) |
State Pension (Transition) State Pension (Contributory) Invalidity Pension Carer's Benefit Jobseeker's Benefit Illness Benefit Health and Safety Benefit Injury Benefit Incapacity Supplement Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension Deserted Wife's Benefit |
€14.90 | €29.80 |
| Social assistance payment | Increase for a Qualified Child (half rate 2012) | Increase for a Qualified Child (full rate 2012) |
One-Parent Family Payment State Pension (Non Contributory) Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non Contributory) Pension Deserted Wife's Allowance/Prisoner's Wife's Allowance Carer's Allowance Pre-Retirement Allowance Disability Allowance Jobseeker's Allowance Blind Pension Farm Assist |
€14.90 | €29.80 |
If you get an Increase for a Qualified Adult with Supplementary
Welfare Allowance (SWA), you will get a full-rate Increase for a Qualified
Child. A half-rate Increase for a Qualified Child is not
payable with SWA.
To get an Increase for a Qualified Child 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 contact the section in the Department of Social Protection which pays your social welfare payment.
The Department of Social Protection provides a Lo-call telephone number, your telephone call will be charged at the price of a local call.
Lo-call: 1890 500 000