Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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57. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if and when family income supplement is payable in respect of one remaining child still in full-time education in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40872/14]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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58. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which their welfare support has been reduced in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40873/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 58 together.

The family income supplement (FIS) is designed to provide support for employees with families, who have low earnings. It is a condition for receipt of FIS that the claimant must have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them. A qualified child is one under the age of 18 or one between the ages of 18 and 22 who is attending full-time education by day. Entitlement to FIS is renewed each year on the anniversary of the original claim.

Once the appropriate rate of FIS due is determined it generally continues to be payable at that same rate for a period of 52 weeks, provided that the person remains in full-time employment. The two principal exceptions to this are where there is an additional qualified child in the family or (with effect from July 2013) where payment of One-parent Family (OFP) ceases due to the youngest child reaching the OFP age threshold. The person concerned was originally awarded FIS from October 2008. Accordingly, her 52 week entitlement period ran from October to October each year. She ceased to claim OFP in June 2013 for a reason other than her youngest child reaching the OFP age threshold. This was during her 52 week entitlement period from October 2013 to October 2014. She was not entitled to an increase in her FIS entitlement at that time. The legislative provision allowing for a review of FIS is effective only from July 2013 and covers the loss of OFP arising from the youngest child reaching the OFP age threshold and no other reason.

The person concerned applied to have her FIS renewed from October 2013. As her income had reduced due to the fact that she was no longer in receipt of OFP, her FIS rate was increased by €132 per week from the previous year. Her youngest child reached the age of 22 years in February 2014 however, in accordance with the regulations, FIS continued to be paid at the same rate until her next renewal date (October 2014). The person concerned applied to have her FIS renewed from October 2014, however, the claim was refused as the person concerned no longer had a qualified child under the age of 22.