Poverty could be seriously tackled if the next national wage agreement provided for the doubling of child benefit, according to five anti-poverty groups.
They have begun a campaign to have this proposal and 10 others included in the next agreement. If their proposals are accepted they could lead to the "prevention, reduction and eventual elimination of child poverty", they claim.
With discussions expected to start shortly on a successor to Partnership 2000, the five bodies have called the campaign Open Your Eyes to Child Poverty.
It brings together representatives of the Combat Poverty agency, the National Youth Council of Ireland, Barnardos, the Children's Right Alliance and the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
According to the group's figures, between 250,000 and 300,000 children are "at risk of living in poverty". Decisions made in the coming months on a new agreement will be important in improving this statistic, a statement said.
Apart from the child benefit proposal, the groups call for a minimum income standard for children, a new national children's strategy, increases in clothing and footwear allowance and special measures to deal with groups such as Travellers and children with disabilities.
The child benefit increase could be among the main provisions of the agreement and would make a major contribution to tackling child poverty, Mr Hugh Frazer, director of the Combat Poverty Agency, said.
He said at £34.60 the current average monthly rate of child benefit was totally inadequate to cover the costs of bringing up children.
Mr Owen Keenan, chief executive of Barnardos, said the Blair government in Britain had committed itself to eliminating child poverty within 20 years. The Government here should make a similar commitment.