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

I thought the Deputy was taking the mickey out of me - if the cap fits. The working family payment is a working support which provides an income top-up for low-earning employees with children and offers financial incentives to take up employment. The payment benefits more than 57,000 families with almost 130,000 children through an estimated spend this year of €431 million. It is definitely working and doing exactly what it is aimed to do. As part of the process of developing the working family payment, the Department carried out extensive analysis of the range of supports it provides to assist individuals in their attempts to take up employment and move away from welfare dependency. The analysis showed that the existing in-work supports were actually very effective and were working well to assist individuals to make the transition from unemployment to employment, in particular work supports such as the working family payment and the back-to-work family dividend. As I agreed during the debate on the Social Welfare Bill in 2017 which was enacted in December, I am committed to bringing forward a report reviewing the operation of working family payments to the Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection. That includes the requirement to work for 19 hours per week or 30 hours per fortnight to qualify for the payment. We are working on that report currently and I will bring it to the committee as soon as it is prepared. I expect that to be a matter of weeks or a short number of months.

The redesignation to "working family payment" provided for in the 2017 Act better reflects the nature of the payments. The Department intends to encourage families to determine whether they are eligible for the payment by carrying out a promotion and information campaign early this year. I am sure there are still considerable numbers of people who do not know they can avail of this payment. We will carry out a proper campaign using national and social media. It is also intended to review continually the package of supports offered to working families to continue to ensure that payments meet the objectives of those they serve. Budget 2018 increased the income thresholds by €10 for families with up to three children, and that change will take effect from 29 March alongside the other changes we made in the Social Welfare Act. The likely result of this increase is that additional families not currently in receipt of the working family payment will become eligible for the scheme.

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