Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason family income support is not paid to the self employed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52367/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The family income supplement (FIS) payment provides income support for employees on low earnings with children. In 2011 expenditure on FIS amounted to almost €205 million in respect of some 29,000 families. The FIS payment is designed to preserve the financial incentive to take-up or remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might be marginally better off in employment than on social welfare payments. To qualify for payment of FIS, a person must be engaged in insurable employment which is expected to last for at least three months and be working for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week.

There are a number of factors that would have to be taken in to account in any consideration of extending eligibility criteria for FIS to include self-employed persons. In particular, there would be considerable practical difficulties in defining and controlling an alternative to the hours worked condition. It would be impossible to establish satisfactorily a self-employed person’s hours of employment and certify this on an ongoing basis. Extending FIS eligibility to the self-employed would also need to take into account the fact that there are already arrangements in place to provide income support to self-employed people on low incomes, such as through jobseeker’s allowance and through farm assist for low-income farmers. Furthermore, the cost of extending the scheme to the self-employed would be considerable and could only be considered in a budgetary context. Therefore, an extension of the FIS scheme to the self-employed would in effect change the nature of the scheme and it would not be feasible or desirable to extend FIS in this regard in its current form.

None the less, I am conscious that achieving a better design of the overall system of child income supports, including the FIS, raises complex issues about the effectiveness and efficiency of the full range of income supports currently provided to families and their children. In this context and in line with a commitment in the Programme for Government, I established an Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare last year, which has been asked to recommend cost-effective solutions as to how employment incentives can be improved and better poverty outcomes achieved, particularly child poverty outcomes. The Advisory Group prioritised the area of family and child income supports and has completed its work on this area. Their report is currently receiving my consideration and will assist the Government in setting out a pathway towards a more appropriate system of child income supports.