Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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156. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the annual cost to the Exchequer of increasing the salary paid to approximately 4,000 low paid public sector workers in receipt of family income supplement, to bring their income above the benefit threshold. [19547/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Family Income Supplement (FIS) is a weekly tax-free payment to employees with children, paid directly by the Department of Social Protection to the employee subject to qualification criteria based not only on salary, but also on the personal circumstances of the claimant, in particular family size. Qualification for payment is a matter directly between the employee concerned and the Department of Social Protection. Employers including public service employers have no role in deciding on or determining the thresholds for payment. Data in relation to the payment is held by the Department of Social Protection and is not available to public service employers to support a response to the question posed.

I should point out that while all public servants have contributed substantially to the recovery and reaching our fiscal deficit target of 3% GDP by 2015, the reductions imposed on public servants through the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009-2013 have been progressive, thereby ensuring that reductions imposed impacted on low paid workers least and that higher reductions were imposed on the higher paid. The pay cuts applied to public servants under the 2013 FEMPI Act apply only to those higher paid public servants on annual salaries of €65,000 or more. The core pay of 87% of the workers in the public service was not reduced by the legislation.  In the context of the public service pay discussions currently under way, I have already confirmed that I am committedto benefit lower paid public servants disproportionately.