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

I am not sure that more than 86 families applied. Although I may have given the impression that other people applied for but did not receive the payment, that was not what I intended to say. Rather, my point was that some 86 members of the Defence Forces were in receipt of the payment at the end of November.

The rates of pay in any public sector occupation are not set by reference to the size of the employee's family, whereas the working family payment is a scheme specifically designed to help people with their families, especially those with larger families. It is not the case that every job at every level is designed to provide sufficient remuneration to sustain larger families, even though it potentially should be. If it was, labour costs, not least for public services, might become prohibitive.

I do not have the exact number for the fund for 2019 but I expect it to be higher than this year given that we introduced extra disregards and changes in the budget. I will revert to the Deputy later with the exact figure for what is in the Estimates for 2019.

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