Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the time I have, I will tell the Deputy that is not true. When someone applies for rent supplement his or her income is taken into consideration. There is an income disregard, but all of his or her income, regardless of whether he or she is working in a full-time or part-time job and in receipt of FIS, is taken into account. The reason family income support is so effective is that it gives an income supplement to people who are on low incomes. From a rent supplement perspective, we are not going to treat people differently, whether they have a full-time job and cannot manage to look for rent supplements without supports or whether they are in receipt of FIS as well as a low-paid job when seeking rent supplement. That is the current situation and we have no plans to change it.

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