Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that many public servants who have experienced a reduction in pay due to recent budget cuts have been put in a position their income is now so low that they have become eligible for family income supplement; and her views on this matter. [15331/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The rules which determine eligibility for FIS do not distinguish between public sector workers and private sector workers. There are currently approximately 24,410 people in receipt of a weekly family income supplement (FIS) payment of which 2,517 (10%) are recorded as public servants. During 2010 the number of public servants in receipt of FIS ran at approximately 11% of the total number of recipients. Exact figures on the numbers of public service workers in receipt of FIS prior to 2010 are unavailable but a previous manual random sample analysis estimated that approximately 10% of FIS claims related to those working in the public service. There is therefore no evidence of any significant increase in the level of recourse by public servants to FIS.

The numbers of public servants eligible for FIS is influenced by several factors. Notwithstanding pay reductions other factors such as incremental wage increases or reductions in the number of qualified children, together with any changes in work sharing/family friendly working arrangements can combine to reduce recourse to FIS.