Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There will also be a reduction to €150 per week in the rate of jobseeker's allowance and supplementary welfare allowance payable to people who have unreasonably refused offers of training or education.

I wish to highlight how the family income supplement, FIS, can help low-income working families with children. It is a weekly tax-free payment available to married or unmarried employees with children, who work for 19 or more hours per week or 38 or more hours per fortnight. It is designed to give extra financial support to people in employment on low pay. To qualify for the payment, the net average weekly family income must be below a certain amount for a given family size. In 2010 the FIS income thresholds will be as follows: €506 per week net for a family with one child; €602 for a family with two children, equating to €31,304 net; €703 or €36,500 per annum for a family with three children; and €824 or €42,848 per annum for a family with four children. Higher thresholds apply for families with five children or more.

I emphasise these are net income figures, calculated after taxation. The level of FIS payment a family receives is equal to 60% of the difference between their net family income and the FIS income threshold which applies to their family. Given the level of the income thresholds, FIS can be of benefit to families whose income from employment is relatively good. However, it is of greatest benefit to those whose earnings are low.

For example, if a family has one parent working full time and the other works for 19 hours a week, both on the minimum wage, their net income from employment would be approximately €500 per week. If they have four children, the improvements we have made to FIS will have the result that from January they would now be entitled to a top-up payment of €194 per week in addition to their wages, giving a combined net income from employment and the family income supplement of €694. Such people would also be entitled to child benefit of €155.53 per week.

I refer to the new arrangements being put in place for new jobseeker's allowance claimants aged 18 to 24 years. To incentivise young jobseekers to avail of education and training opportunities and to try to prevent them from becoming welfare dependent from a young age, changes are being made to the jobseeker's allowance. I emphasise that for new entrants, the rate of jobseeker's allowance will be reduced to €100 per week for 20 and 21 year olds and €150 per week for those aged between 22 and 24 years who are not in training or education.

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