Child Benefit is a monthly payment from the Department of Social Protection for each child you are raising. Plenty of people still call it Children's Allowance. The Department, the forms and the official pages all call it Child Benefit, so that is the term to use when you are searching for it or filling something in. It is not means-tested on your income, and registering the birth on time is what sets it going. What happens next depends on whether you already get Child Benefit for another child. Here is what you get and who qualifies.
The short version
- Amount
- €140 a month for each child
- New Baby Grant
- A one-off €280 with the first month, for babies born or adopted on or after 1 December 2024
- Who it is for
- Each child under 16, or under 19 if in full-time education or training, or with a disability
- How it starts
- Register the birth within 3 months. A first child gets a partly completed form to return; an additional child is added to your claim automatically
- Paid
- Monthly, into your bank account
How much is Child Benefit?
The standard rate is €140 a month for each child, which works out at €1,680 a year per child. Multiple births are paid at a higher rate: twins get one and a half times the rate each (€210 a month each), and other multiple births get double (€280 a month each).
| Children | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €140 | €1,680 |
| 2 | €280 | €3,360 |
| 3 | €420 | €5,040 |
| 4 | €560 | €6,720 |
| 5 | €700 | €8,400 |
One thing worth separating, because the same figure appears twice on this page for two unrelated reasons. €280 is the monthly Child Benefit for two children, and €280 is also the one-off New Baby Grant for a single baby. They are different payments and neither affects the other.
For a bigger family, or if your children were a multiple birth, the calculator below does the arithmetic.
Estimate your Child Benefit
Add how many children you get Child Benefit for. Children from a multiple birth are paid at a higher rate, so tell us about that too.
Child Benefit is one step of about thirty, and most of them have a deadline. See my full plan →
This is a simulation based on the current rates, not a decision. Amounts are set in the annual Budget and can change, and the Department of Social Protection administers the payment. Always confirm on the official page.
The New Baby Grant
For a baby born or adopted on or after 1 December 2024, a one-off New Baby Grant of €280 is paid with the first month of Child Benefit. So in that first month, a single birth brings €420 in total: the usual €140 plus the €280 grant.
The grant is paid per child, so a multiple birth receives it more than once. Twins born after that date bring two grants, not one, on top of the higher monthly rate for each of them.
Who qualifies
Child Benefit is paid for a child who normally lives with you and is fully supported by you, and who is:
- under 16; or
- under 19 and in full-time education, in full-time training, or has a disability and cannot support themselves.
You also need to meet the Habitual Residence Condition. If your child was born outside Ireland or you have recently moved here, the checks can be a little different, so use the official page for your exact situation.
How it starts
Registering the birth within 3 months does most of the work: the details go to the Department, and your baby is given a PPS number. What comes after that depends on whether this is your first child.
- Your first child, meaning you are not already claiming Child Benefit for another child: the Child Benefit Section sends you a partly completed CB1 form to return. The form also explains how to claim online instead, which you can do only if the Department has invited you to.
- An additional child, meaning you are already claiming for another child: the baby is added to your existing claim, and the Department writes to confirm when payment starts. There is nothing to fill in.
You only complete a CB1 yourself in two cases: the baby was born outside Ireland, or the birth was not registered within 3 months.
Register the birth within 3 months. That one step gives your baby a PPS number and opens the Child Benefit claim. Miss the window and you have to arrange both yourself with a CB1 form.
After it starts
Child Benefit is paid monthly into your bank account. Keep your details up to date with the Department, and remember it can continue past 16 for a child who stays in full-time education or training.
When does Child Benefit stop?
Child Benefit stops when your child turns 16, unless they are in full-time education, in full-time training, or have a disability and cannot support themselves. In those cases it continues while they are 16, 17 and 18. It is not paid once a child turns 19, even if they stay in education or training.
Continuing past 16 is not automatic. The Child Benefit Section writes to you in advance of your child's sixteenth birthday with a CB2 form, and it has to be signed and officially stamped: by the school or college if your child is in full-time education, by the training organisation if they are in training, or by a doctor if they have a disability and cannot support themselves. It should be completed a month before the birthday. If no form arrives in the post, you can download the CB2 yourself.
There is one gap worth knowing about. If your child has finished sixth year but has not started their next course yet, Child Benefit keeps being paid until October, as long as they are still under 19. A form arrives in September to confirm where they are going.
Tell the Department on form CB56 if a child aged 16, 17 or 18 leaves full-time education. That is the same form you use for a change of address or a change of bank account.
If you or your child move abroad
The baseline rule is that the child must be ordinarily resident in Ireland, so moving outside the EU and EEA usually ends the payment. The Department's own guidelines list the cases where residence is treated as satisfied anyway: members of the Irish Defence Forces or the Irish Civil Service serving abroad, volunteer development workers, and people temporarily employed abroad by an Irish employer who are still paying Irish social insurance.
Inside the EU and EEA it works differently, and more generously than most people expect. Child Benefit counts as a Family Benefit under EU law, and the Department states that it is payable even if the children are resident in another EEA State. What you actually receive depends on whether there is an entitlement to family benefits in that country for the same children. The claim goes in the country where you work, and that country then contacts the other one so the full entitlement is worked out between them. If your family is living abroad, put their social security numbers on the claim form.
The UK did not change with Brexit. Work in the UK and live in Ireland, and you keep your UK Child Benefit plus a top-up of the Irish one. Work in Ireland and live in the UK, and you keep the Irish payment. Live in Ireland with your children while your partner works in the UK, and you apply here.
In every one of these situations, tell the Department on form CB56. It is required if you or your children leave Ireland, and also if you or your partner simply start work in another country, which is the easier one to forget because nobody has moved house.
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Official sources
- Citizens Information: Child Benefit
- gov.ie: Child Benefit
- gov.ie: Operational Guidelines: Child Benefit (the ordinary residence rule and the cases deemed to satisfy it, Child Benefit as a Family Benefit under EU law, and payment for children resident in another EEA State)
Facts checked against the official pages on 28 August 2026. This is general information, not legal or financial advice, and it does not decide your eligibility or amount. The Department of Social Protection administers Child Benefit. Rates are set in the annual Budget and can change; always confirm on the official pages linked above.