INCREASES IN child benefit for more than one million children come into effect from this week.
The new monthly rates rise by €6 to €166 per month in respect of the first two children and by €8 to €203 per month in respect of third and subsequent children.
The increased rates, flagged in last December's Budget, will benefit more than 570,000 families and about 1.1 million children.
Child benefit is payable in respect of children who are under 16 years of age, or between 16 and 19 years of age and who have a disability or who are in full-time education.
Children of asylum seekers are the only category of children not entitled to the payment.
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Martin Cullen said the increases will be significant for a range of families.
"The increases bring, for example, the monthly income from the benefit to €332 for a family with two children, increasing to €738 for those with four children, and to €1,550 for a family with eight children."
Mr Cullen said other forms of child income support were also rising by an average of 6 per cent this year, including back-to-school clothing and footwear allowances and the early childcare supplement.
The €1,000 a year early childcare supplement, for example, will rise to €1,100.
Income support provided by child benefit payment is part of the €12 billion allocated by Government to children's programmes under the lifetime of the National Development Plan. This funding is being invested in childcare services, child protection and recreational facilities for children and educational help for children from disadvantaged communities and those with special needs.