New Baby Grant paid for almost 48,000 children in its first year – O’Shea

Almost 48,000 parents and families benefitted from the Newborn Baby Grant in the first year since the grant was introduced, a Fine Gael TD has reported.

The Newborn Baby Grant was introduced last year and is paid to families of babies born or adopted after 1st December 2024 in addition to their regular first month’s Child Benefit payment of €140. The New Baby Grant is €280 per child, and for twins the grant is €560.

Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, John Paul O’Shea TD, obtained figures from the Department of Social Protection which show that the grant has been in respect of 47,633 children to date. Dublin has the highest number of newborn babies with 13,127 grants paid up to 9^th December 2025, while Leitrim had the lowest with 292 newborn baby grants paid in the County.

Deputy O’Shea said: “The arrival of a new baby is a joyful time for families but it’s also an expensive time. The Newborn Baby Grant was introduced to help families with the costs of a new arrival.

“Looking after a new baby is a busy and stressful time for families. The good news is the newborn baby grant is paid automatically with your first child benefit payment, there is no additional application for the grant so new parents don’t have to do anything extra to receive it.

“It’s fantastic to see that so many families across the country have benefitted from the grant in its first year. I’m particularly pleased to see 5352 children in Cork have benefited from the grant so far.

“Supports like this alongside the likes of the Free GP Card for Under 8s, Free Hot School Meals and Free School Books are all designed to make life a little bit easier for young, working families.

“I want to see key commitments in the Programme for Government such as the introduction of Pay Related Parents Benefit progressed so that we can provide further support to young, working families.”