The Government is being urged not to cut spending on children in the forthcoming Budget.

Presenting its pre-Budget submission to the Oireachtas this week, the Children's Rights Alliance (CRA) called on the Government to refrain from making any more cuts to the child benefit payment.

It also called for the provision of adequate funding for the new Child and Family Agency. This aims to bring together key services that are relevant to children and families under the control of one State agency, overseen by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Currently, these services are provided by various agencies, such as the HSE and the Department of Social Protection.

"The latest CSO (Central Statistics Office) figures for childbirth in Ireland are showing a natural increase of 13.4%. Despite the economic hardship people are under, we are still having babies. This is a figure many countries would envy and augurs well for the future, but only if these children are protected and their families supported," insisted CRA chief executive, Tanya Ward.

She noted that the Department of Social Protection's own analysis revealed that people with children were hardest hit in the last budget.

"Child benefit has been cut four consecutive times, saving €100 million but with no redirection of even some of these savings to low-income families. This is socially and economically regressive," Ms Ward said.

She described the new Child and Family Agency as a major milestone in this country, however she insisted that if cuts are imposed on it, ‘it will be disastrous even before it has gotten off the ground'.

"We all accept the economic situation this county faces but we can still make choices. We can choose to invest in children and support their care and nurturing, we can choose a progressive model and we can make the money match the rhetoric. Or we can choose a short-sighted, regressive path where children suffer and their families struggle," she said.

She added that choosing the latter would be in nobody's interest and would cost more in the long-run.

Budget 2014 will be announced on October 15.