Gardaí probing the suspected murder of Kyran Durnin are investigating if child benefit was paid for him during the two years he was missing.
Officers have been in contact with the Department of Social Protection. Kyran was last seen publicly at a Dundalk primary school in May 2022.
A Garda source said: "We are in contact with the Department of Social Protection to find out if child benefit was paid for Kyran and if so how much. We are keen to find out if social welfare were told he was missing.
"It is among a number of lines we are following including other reported sightings of him from members of the public which we are checking out. We still believe he is dead and has been for some time. We may start digging in other locations to see if we can find a body in due course."
The eight-year-old's mother Dayla Durnin is staying with friends in Ipswich, England. It is understood that Dayla has told British police she has no idea where her son is and doesn't know what happened to him.
Yesterday it also emerged that Gardaí are trawling through thousands of text messages and telephone phone calls made by a number of people linked to the missing youngster. The phone search is going to take time as it goes back a couple of years.
Detectives are trying to find any clues that will tell them what happened Kyran and where his body is. They are trying to establish if there is collusion between suspects to cover up what happened.
A Garda source said: "We are just trying to get to the truth. A young boy cannot just vanish off the face of the earth without someone knowing something."
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