Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 363: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason when assessing maintenance as means for the one parent family allowance that the remainder is then assessed as means for the purposes of assessing family income supplement even though the payment for a qualified child is only €29 and that in many cases not only is this amount fully deducted but more if the maintenance payment is more than €60 and that the payment available for FIS is reduced based on the second half being assessed as means; and that the child gains no benefit from the maintenance paid by the absent parent . [41022/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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One parent family payment (OFP) is a means tested social assistance payment. The amount of the payment depends on the weekly means of the parent. In assessing means, account is taken of all cash income which the person is receiving including maintenance payments.

Currently, earnings of less than €130 per week are excluded from the assessment of means, with the result that people earning up to €130 per week are entitled to the full rate of payment. Earnings above this limit are assessed at 50%, up to a maximum of €425.00 per week. A reduced rate of OFP is payable in these cases.

With regard to the assessment of maintenance, personal and child maintenance are assessed as means. Housing costs if any, of up to €95.23 per week are initially disregarded for those who pay rent or a mortgage. Maintenance above this level is assessed at 50%. As a result of this approach, a recipient will always retain at least half of any maintenance paid.

The family income supplement (FIS) is designed to provide further income support for employees on lower earnings who have children.

To qualify for payment of FIS, a person must be engaged in full-time insurable employment which is expected to last for at least 3 months and be working for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week. The applicant must also have at least one qualified child who normally resides with him/her or is supported by him/her.

The assessment of FIS is based on the total net income, including weekly social welfare income, of a person after income tax, superannuation and social insurance contributions are deducted. Where the total net average weekly family income is below the threshold for the family size, 60% of the difference between the prescribed threshold and total net average weekly family income is paid. Maintenance payments are, accordingly, assessed in full, in line with the treatment of other income. It is important to note, however, that this does not result in the entire benefit of the maintenance payment being lost to the recipient. A person in the circumstances described by the Deputy, who receives both Family Income Supplement and One-Parent Family Payment, will still be better off for having received a maintenance payment after the application of the means tests in the two schemes as described above.

FIS is one of the family and child income supports currently being examined by the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare, which was established in June last year. The Group has been tasked with recommending cost-effective solutions as to how employment disincentives can be improved and better poverty outcomes achieved, particularly child poverty outcomes.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 364: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of domiciliary care allowance applicants; and the number of domiciliary care allowance applicants refused year-on-year since 2009 broken down by constituency. [41029/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department has been accepting new claims for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) since 1 April 2009. Statistics relating to the allowance for the period prior to April 2009 are a matter for the HSE, the previous administrators of the scheme.

The number of applicants for DCA that were received, awarded and refused in each year to date is detailed in the table. A breakdown of the applications received and applications refused by constituency is not available. Domiciliary Care Allowance applications, April 2009 to date