Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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16. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of part-time workers in receipt of family income supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17325/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The family income supplement (FIS) is an in-work income support for employees on low earnings who have families and who otherwise might be at risk of financial poverty. FIS also preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were unemployed and claiming social welfare.

At the end of March 2015, there were 50,452 families including 111,693 children in receipt of FIS. Expenditure on FIS for 2014 was of the order of €297.7 million in respect of some 50,300 families. The estimated expenditure for 2015 is expected to be €349.2million. The number of families in receipt of FIS increased by 13% between the end of 2013 and the end of 2014 – from 44,159 families to 49,860 families.

The Department does not maintain statistics in relation to the number of hours worked by each individual adult who is part of a family in receipt of FIS. 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. A couple may combine their hours of employment to meet the qualification criteria. Furthermore, the average family income must be below a specified amount which varies according to the number of qualified children in the family.

New claims for FIS and annual renewals continue to be processed without delay. Creating jobs and reducing unemployment are key challenges facing the Government. The tax and social protection systems have a part to play in addressing these issues and in ensuring work pays. In this regard, the department is carrying out a focused policy assessment of FIS examining the role of in-work benefits in supporting people to move from welfare to work.