Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will introduce further improvements in respect of the level of payments under family income supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23449/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Family Income Supplement (FIS) scheme, which provides income support for employees on low earnings with families, is designed to preserve the incentive to move from welfare to (or remain in) employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were claiming other social welfare payments.

Qualification for payment under this scheme requires that a person must be engaged in insurable employment for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week. A couple may combine their hours of employment to meet the qualification criteria. FIS is calculated on the basis of 60% of the difference between the income limit for the family size and the assessable income of the person(s) raising the children. The combined income of the couple is taken into account. Improvements to FIS in recent years include the change of assessment from a gross income to a net income basis, the increase to €20 per week in the minimum payment and, the re-focusing of income thresholds to include additional gains for larger families.

An integral part of the scheme is that once the level of FIS payments is determined, it continues to be payable at that level for a period of 52 weeks provided that the person remains in employment. Budget 2009 provided for an increase in the income limits for FIS by €10 a week in respect of each child. These new thresholds gave increases ranging from €6 to €48 per week depending on the family size, from January 2009. These increases will preserve the incentive for employees on low earnings with families to move into or remain in employment. Any further improvements in the level of payments under FIS would only be considered in a budgetary context.