Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the ESRI have concluded their research into a second tier child income support payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15320/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department administers a number of supports for low-income families with children. The principal support is child benefit, a universal payment which is neutral vis-a-vis the employment status of the child's parents and does not contribute to poverty traps. A second support is the qualified child increase, paid with weekly social welfare payments. In addition, weekly support is provided to families at work on low pay, through the family income supplement (FIS) scheme.

In the context of an overall review of targeted child income support payments, the National Economic and Social Council was asked to examine the feasibility of merging the family income supplement with the qualified child increase and possibly including other child supports such as the back to school clothing and footwear allowance, resulting in a single second tier child income support.

There have been a range of improvements introduced in respect of child income support in recent years, including increases in child benefit and increased income thresholds for family income supplement. As research has shown that poverty is more likely to be concentrated in larger families, recent Budget measures, while significantly increasing all FIS payments, have concentrated additional resources on larger, low-income families. As a result, the disincentives associated with losing the qualified child increases on moving from welfare to work are less relevant than in the past.

Despite a significant increase in the number of FIS claims, there remains a perception that the level of FIS take up is low. To address this issue, it is proposed to commission a specific research project to examine factors behind the level of take up for the scheme. Tenders to undertake this work have been received by my Department and are being evaluated. I expect this process to be concluded shortly and the project to commence in the near future.

In addition, the three rates of qualified child increase, which had been maintained at the same levels for a number of years, were combined in Budget 2007 into a single high rate of €22 per week in respect of over 340,000 children of welfare families. For those previously on the lower rates of €16.80 and €19.30 per child per week, this represents a substantial improvement, particularly when taken with child benefit and other increases, without significantly worsening the associated disincentive effects. When received, the results of the FIS project and the final draft of the NESC report will contribute usefully to the further development of second-tier income support for children in low-income families.