Mr. John-Mark McCafferty:

The issue of inward supports is a significant concern for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Barnardos. It is a key enabler in assisting people to get out of unemployment and into the labour market and to remain in the labour market. We are conscious, given the various discussions around the wider shared income supports, that there may be a question around the family income supplement. Clearly, the family income supplement needs to be protected. I appreciate there have been issues of take-up since its inception, but where people avail of family income supplement, it works well, and by virtue of it, allows working families to lift themselves out of poverty. There is something about the receptiveness of the welfare system, how people can apply for it, automatic take-up and so on. There is also the long-term question about the interaction between the tax and welfare systems. For the time being, we say the family income supplement should not be cut. For those who are eligible and apply, it is an absolute lifeline. If anything, we should be looking at the 19 hour cut-off point because people are having their hours cut and, as mentioned earlier, that is a fiscal cliff off which people are falling as a result.