Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will address the anomaly whereby Family Income Supplement is only paid to those in work and not in training. [8006/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Family income supplement (FIS) is designed to provide cash support for employees on low earnings with families. This preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were unemployed and claiming other social welfare payments. FIS is paid on a weekly basis over a period of 52 weeks, taking into account a family's net earnings and the number of children under age 18 or aged between 18 and 22 years and in full time education.

FIS is designed to encourage people to take up or remain in full-time work in the open labour market in circumstances where dependency on social welfare alone may otherwise appear attractive. Extension of entitlement to people engaged in training courses would not be consistent with these policy objectives.

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on whether it is timely to conduct a feasibility review into the introduction of universal child benefit payments particularly in view of the recent claim made by the End Child Poverty Alliance that there are over 2000 seeking asylum here who have been denied the payment. [7925/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Child benefit can be paid in respect of every child under the age of 16 years, who is ordinarily resident in the State. Payment can be extended to the 19th birthday if the child is in education, or disabled and incapable of self-support. The benefit is paid to the qualified person with whom the child resides and since 1 May 2004, the qualified person must satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition.

The requirement to be habitually resident in Ireland was introduced as a qualifying condition for certain social assistance schemes and child benefit with effect from 1 May 2004. It was introduced in the context of the Government's decision to open the Irish labour market to workers from the 10 new EU Member States without the transitional limitations which were imposed at that time by most of the other Member States. The effect of the condition is that a person whose habitual residence is elsewhere is not paid social welfare payments on arrival in Ireland.

EU Regulations provide that migrant workers who are EEA nationals, i.e. EEA nationals who have been employed or self-employed since coming to this country, or receiving Irish Jobseeker's benefit, are entitled to payment of family benefits in respect of their families who reside in another Member State. In these circumstances the family members are treated as if they are habitually resident in Ireland for the purpose of Child Benefit.

For the period from 1 May 2004 to 31 January 2007, the number of child benefit claims that required particular examination of the habitual residence condition was 16,092. Of these only 1,557 (less than 10%) were disallowed. Those who are refused are mainly persons whose claim to asylum has not yet been decided, who do not have a work permit or who have only a minimal attachment to the workforce in Ireland.

I am satisfied that the habitual residence condition is achieving its intended purpose, allowing access to our social welfare schemes to persons who are genuinely and lawfully making Ireland their habitual residence, while preventing unwarranted access by persons who have little or no connection with the State. I have therefore no plans to remove the habitual residence condition.