The Budget had indicated that triple child benefit of €420 would be paid to every baby born from just after midnight on January 1, 2025.
“I have been contacted by many women over the last 24 hours whose babies are due to arrive in December,” she told the Dáil this afternoon.
They are very worried their babies will arrive too late for the Double Child Benefit Payment at the start of December, but also too early for the Newborn Grant in January.
“As a mother, I do not want to see any woman or baby miss out,” she said.
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“I am pleased to confirm to the House tonight that babies born in December will be eligible to receive the Newborn grant when their mother receives their first Child Benefit payment in January.
“So my message to those families is – don’t worry, the Christmas babies will be looked after.”
The move may correct the anomaly whereby some would miss out on Government largesse, but could also be seen as an electoral move.
Ms Humphreys earlier this year announced that her Department had “found the money” to commence an extension of Child Benefit to the 19th birthday of an individual in full-time education.
The measure had been due to come in last month, but was instead initiated earlier this year in May. That was the month before the Local and European elections, which proved a triumph for Fine Gael and its new leader, Simon Harris.
The Minister said she wanted to thank colleagues, particularly Deputy Alan Farrell, who raised with her the Baby Boost trap for some families.
Ms Humphreys also said: “It is one of my proudest achievements in politics to have grown the Hot School Meals Programme from a small pilot project to universal provision in 2025.
“It will see every primary school child in the country receive a hot dinner in the middle of the day.
“The Hot Dinners is a great leveller. All the children sit down and eat together, there’s no stigma attached to it – all children are treated equally.
“Not having to think about what goes in the lunchbox every day is one less thing for busy parents to worry about when they’re heading out to work in the morning,” she said.
She added that she would be working with the Taoiseach’s Department and other stakeholders to deliver a pilot project to tackle “holiday hunger” over the summer period when schools are out and hot meals not provided.
