Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 130: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he will receive the National Economic and Social Council report on the feasibility of merging the family income supplement with the qualified child increase and other child supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20798/07]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the status of his plans to merge the family income supplement and the child dependent allowance into a second tier child income support payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20782/07]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps he will take to fulfil the commitment in the Agreed Programme for Government to amalgamate the qualified child allowances and family income supplements in order to develop a second tier of income support targeted at the poorest families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20808/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 130, 147 and 149 together.

The merging of family income supplement and qualified child increases provides an opportunity to further target income support at the poorest families. However, the issues involved are complex and there are technical and policy challenges to be overcome.

Under the terms of an earlier Social Partnership agreement the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) was asked to examine the feasibility of merging the family income supplement with qualified child increases 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. Such a payment would be aimed specifically at targeting child poverty by channelling resources to low-income families without creating significant disincentives to employment.

This commitment to examining such a change was subsequently embodied in the current social partnership agreement 'Toward 2016'. NESC research on the subject is expected to be available soon. The Council's analysis of these issues will, when received, be of assistance in informing the future direction of child income support policy.

The importance of targeted income support to families and children continues to be a high priority for this Government and the significantly improved and targeted measures announced in Budget 2007 represent substantial improvements in this area.

Family income supplement income thresholds were raised in Budget 2007, increasing the weekly payments of almost all existing FIS recipients by €9 for a one child family, to €111 for a family with eight or more children. Research has shown that poverty is more likely to be concentrated in larger families and this improvement continues the re-focusing of thresholds towards larger families which started in Budget 2006, thereby further targeting resources at low-income households.

In Budget 2007 all three qualified child increase rates which had remained unchanged since 1994 were increased to a single rate of €22 per week. In addition, the annual back to school clothing and footwear allowance, which provides income support for the poorest families at a particularly difficult time of the year, was increased by €60 for children aged 2 to 11, and by €95 for children aged 12 to 22, bringing the rates of payment to €180 and €285 respectively.

These changes represent a more selective approach to child income support through targeting children in poorer households while at the same time limiting the extent to which employment incentives are worsened. Maintaining this balance will remain a priority in consideration of future policy changes in this area.