If the State paid €33 a week extra in respect of all children in low income households, about 40,000 would be saved from the risk of poverty, according to a study by the ESRI.
Brian Nolan, an economist with the insititute, told RTÉ News that recent increases in Child Benefit (which is paid to all families in the State) had substantially reduced numbers of children at risk from poverty.
But the study he co-authored said that targetting state payments to families in need is one way to try to further reduce poverty.
