Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The difficulty in having pre-formed ideas and pre-prepared supplementary questions is that the Deputy then runs into a problem when he does not actually hear or like the answer to the question. We both agree that the fall in unemployment and the rise in employment is not the sole reason why the number of people on FIS has increased. There are other factors. We have changed the qualification limits so that people who were on low pay and did not qualify for FIS in the past now do. That has obviously increased the number of people who are eligible for FIS.

The lone parent reforms have increased the number of people on FIS. People who would previously have been on the one-parent family payment are now in receipt of FIS. Information campaigns are run by my Department. I acknowledge that it is not just down to the increase in employment. I am saying there are four factors, not just the one, and that might explain to a great extent the increase in the numbers of people who are eligible.

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