Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the details of incentives to address the issue of children living in consistent poverty; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39411/08]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the details of incentives to address the issues of families living below the poverty line; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39402/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 98 and 101 together.

The continued reduction and eventual elimination of poverty and in particular child poverty remains a top priority for the Government.

The latest poverty statistics from the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), released in November 2007, indicate that there was a decrease in the rate of consistent poverty from 8.2% in 2003 to 6.5% in 2006 and that the consistent poverty rate for children fell from 11.7% in 2003 to 9.8% in 2006.

The risk of a child being in consistent poverty depends on a number of factors including household composition. For example, families comprising two adults and between one to three children had a consistent poverty rate in 2006 of 5.1%; below the national rate of 6.5%. In contrast lone parents are a high-risk group, with 27.3% of lone parent households in consistent poverty in 2006. The EU-SILC results for 2007, will be available shortly.

Significant progress has already been achieved in reducing child poverty in Ireland over the past decade and, in spite of current economic difficulties, the Government is determined to continue this work. The recent Budget provided for a range of measures costing over €56 million to benefit children and families and increases of between 3 % and 3.8 % in the basic payment rates have been provided for next year, ahead of the projected rate of inflation for 2009, which is 2.5%.

These measures include an increase of €2 in the qualified child increase payable with social welfare payments bringing the rate up to €26 per week from January 2009; an increase of €10 per week per child in all Family Income Supplement (FIS) income thresholds giving an increase of up to €6 per child per week, from January 2009; and an increase of €50 per week in the income threshold for the back to school clothing and footwear scheme to enable more families qualify. These increases will mean that the high level goal of maintaining the combined value of child income support measures at 33% to 35% of the minimum adult social welfare payment rate will continue to be met next year (at present it ranges between 33.4% and 43.7% depending on family size, income and ages of children).

It is generally accepted that one of the most effective routes out of poverty for people in the active age groups is through paid employment. The Department of Social and Family Affairs has a range of education and employment supports available to people in receipt of welfare payments. The overall aim is to provide an incentive and support to unemployed people, particularly the long-term unemployed, lone parents, and sickness related welfare recipients to return to the active labour market either by taking up employment or becoming self-employed. This is done through the operation of programmes including the Back to Education and Back to Work Allowance Schemes. The Activation and Family Support Programme and the Second Chance Education Opportunities Scheme offer supports to social welfare customers and other disadvantaged persons to assist them to improve their employability and personal and family situations.

Additionally the earnings disregards across a range of schemes for people of working age are designed to facilitate people in receipt of welfare payments in entering the workforce by enabling them retain entitlement to their payments until they become established in employment.

People with families who are in lower paid employment may receive the Family Income Supplement which plays a significant role in increasing household income and providing an incentive to remain in, or take up, employment. Currently the weekly average payment for a one child family on FIS is approximately €99.

Child Benefit, and the policy of significantly increasing its rate recent years, also acts as an incentive to return to work as persons are assured that a significant portion of child-related income will continue to be paid when they move from welfare to work.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the increase in the take-up of the family income supplement payment since budget 2008. [39487/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Family Income Supplement is designed to provide support for people with families who are on low earnings. This preserves the incentive for them to remain in employment in circumstances where they might only be marginally better off than if they were claiming other social welfare payments. FIS is a central element of a programme of reforms targeted specifically at addressing child poverty.

The Department has consistently publicised the FIS scheme in order to maximise uptake by qualified families. Significant improvements in the qualifying income limits and ongoing awareness campaigns have resulted in a strong upward trend in the level of new and renewal claims. Currently nearly 26,400 families, with 53,600 children, benefit directly from FIS payments. Families can get FIS payments of between €20 and €600 a week, depending on their income and the size of their family. The average weekly payment is currently €131.86.

Improvements to the family income supplement scheme, including the new increased income limits announced in Budget 2008, mean that it is now easier for families to qualify under the scheme. In 2007 the Department received 36,900 new and renewal FIS claims compared to 33,000 in 2006 and 23,000 in 2005 — an increase of over 60% on 2005 and 11% on 2006. In the first 10 months of 2008, 37,100 new and renewal claims were received compared to some 33,900 in the same period in 2007 — an increase of over 9%. In the 3 weeks since the announcement of the 2009 budget in October, 2,672 new and renewal applications have been received. In the same period last year a similar number, (2,685) was received.

With regard to the level of take up generally, it is not possible to estimate from administrative sources the number of families who would be eligible but do not apply for their FIS entitlements. However, the department has commissioned a research project to examine factors behind the level of take up for the scheme. This is at the final stage at present and is expected to complete shortly.