The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has said she will prioritise payment increases for carers, the elderly and the disabled rather than child benefit in next month's Budget allocation.
Ms Mary Coughlan, who will meet the Minister for Finance next week to negotiate her Budget package in constrained economic circumstances, said she had "harsh decisions" to make.
If faced with deciding between introducing the Government's promised third annual increase in child benefit and raising the baselines of other social welfare payments, she said she would prefer the latter. This would mean phasing in the additional funding for children over two Budgets instead of one as envisaged.
Under a three-year commitment given by Mr McCreevy in his Budget speech two years ago, the monthly child benefit rate should increase by between €31 and €38 per child in this year's Budget. The annual cost of implementing this commitment in one phase would be about €400 million.
The payment has been increased from a lower rate of €53.96 in 2000 to the current rate of €117.60.
"Given the resources that may not be available to me, I have to make various harsh decisions," said Ms Coughlan yesterday.
"I want to increase all of the social welfare baselines. I would like to support carers, the elderly, the disabled and children, and if I'm given a choice between bringing in all of child benefit and not being able to do as much as I want in the others, then my gut feeling is that I'll split it [child benefit increases] between this year and next year, given the fact that there has been a huge increase in child benefit over the last two years."
Ms Coughlan said she was "going in there to fight for everything I want, but I'm being realistic in the context of the resources that are available at the minute."
The Children's Rights Alliance yesterday called on the Government to keep its commitment to increase child benefit this year, as it had become its "key anti-poverty child income support measure".
"Child benefit is the principal financial instrument used to support families with children," said Mr Raymond Dooley, the alliance's chief executive.
"It is also the central element in the Government's plan to eliminate child poverty. Both efforts - supporting families with children and implementing the initiative to end child poverty by 2007 - will be thrown into disarray if the Government breaks its promises on child benefit."
Ms Coughlan made her comments at the start yesterday of an awareness campaign for the Personal Public Service (PPS) number, which replaces the Revenue and Social Insurance (RSI) number.
The PPS number, which from next year will be allocated to people from birth, will be used to store basic computerised information about citizens accessing services.
These "customer data" will be provided to all Government Departments and agencies providing public services, thereby reducing time spent filling in forms with basic information and aiding electronic service delivery.
"Ideally, the PPS number would act as a nudge in the ribs to the Government, prompting a reminder that it's time to immunise your child, prompting the payment of child benefit, for example, and when the child grows into an adult enabling them to easily access welfare services, health services, even finding a reminder in the post that it's time to renew their driving licence," said Ms Coughlan.
The Minister said extensive legal safeguards were in place, "which I am confident should allay any concerns about any possible misuse of the PPS number."