A/HRC/20/25 C. Social protection 101. The Special Rapporteur had cautioned the Government against further budgetary adjustments in the form of reductions in public service funding and cuts to social protection benefits, which play a pivotal role in keeping many Irish families out of poverty. Regrettably, many of the cuts provided for in Budget 2012 will damage the effectiveness and accessibility of social protection benefits and public services. These cuts include, for example, €475 million from the social protection budget. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned by reductions and/or changes to eligibility criteria for the Child Benefit, the OneParent Family Payment, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance and the Fuel Allowance, which may make it more difficult for those most in need to access the assistance to which they are entitled. 102. The Special Rapporteur remains concerned about the application of the ―habitual residency condition‖ to social protection benefits. This requirement can pose a significant threat to the access to essential services and thus enjoyment of human rights by members of vulnerable groups, particularly people experiencing homelessness, Travellers, asylumseekers, migrant workers and returning Irish migrants. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to review the impact of the condition as a matter of priority. D. Situation of people vulnerable to poverty 1. Children 103. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that children continue to be among the hardest hit by the economic downturn, with 19.5 per cent of children at risk of poverty, and 30.2 per cent experiencing material deprivation.33 In this context, the Special Rapporteur regrets that her recommendations with respect to ring-fencing the Child Benefit and other allowances are not reflected in recent developments; Budget 2012 further reduced Child Benefit payments for the third and fourth children and cut the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance. The Special Rapporteur notes that these cuts will have a disproportionate effect on single-parent households, which are among the most vulnerable to poverty in Ireland. 104. The Special Rapporteur does, however, welcome the establishment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in June 2011, which she hopes will assist the Government in ensuring that the best interests of the child are prioritized in accordance with the commitments of Ireland under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 2. Persons with disabilities 105. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact that proposed reductions in disability allowance payments for young disabled persons, originally provided for in Budget 2012, have been not yet been made, pending a review. She urges the Government to recognize the critical role played by social protection benefits in keeping persons with disabilities out of poverty by permanently withdrawing the relevant sections of the legislation, and highlights the need for more comprehensive institutionalized human rights impact assessments during the budget formulation process. 33 20 Central Statistics Office, ―Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2010: preliminary results‖, 30 November 2011, pp. 3 and 5, available from www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/silc/2010/prelimsilc_2010.pdf.