Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Family income supplement is a weekly tax-free support targeted at low-income workers who have children. The purpose of the support is to provide an incentive to such workers to take up or to stay in employment rather than claiming a social welfare payment. FIS provides a crucial support for over 44,000 working families and almost 100,000 children. Over €280 million is allocated to FIS for 2014. It is in keeping with the purpose of the FIS scheme in a situation where a claimant for FIS is living apart from his or her spouse or civil partner and children. It has been the practice to pay FIS in these cases where the claimant is maintaining both his or her spouse or civil partner and his or her children. This does not include payment of FIS in regard to former cohabitees, due to the practical difficulties of establishing that there was a former cohabitation.

With regard to other social welfare schemes, payment of a qualified child increase may be made to a separated parent living apart from a child, provided that maintenance of an amount equivalent to the qualified child increase rate which is currently €29.80 per week, is being paid in respect of that child. As the FIS payment is made in respect of a family in cases where parents are separated, support is provided on the basis that the spouse or civil partner is also being wholly or mainly maintained. The relevant legislative provisions relating to entitlement in cases where the worker is living apart from his or her spouse or civil partner and children, is not fully clear and section 8 clarifies the entitlement to FIS in these circumstances.

Section 8 redefines what constitutes a family for FIS purposes and affirms that FIS cannot be paid to a claimant who is maintaining a child where that child does not reside with the claimant, unless the claimant is also maintaining his or her separated spouse or civil partner with whom the child is residing.