Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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73. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she is aware that persons who are in receipt of family income supplement and the back to work dividend, and who are in work, are suffering serious income losses as a result of the change from the one-parent family payment to the back to work dividend and of the loss of the fuel allowance, as neither the family income supplement nor the back to work dividend are considered qualifying payments for the fuel allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40008/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The one-parent family payment reforms were introduced in order to address long-term social welfare dependency and poverty levels among lone parents.

Approximately 25,500 customers transitioned from the one-parent family payment scheme on 2 July, 2015, when the final phase of the reforms was implemented. The majority of these customers transitioned to jobseeker’s transitional payment, jobseeker’s allowance or the family income supplement. This latter group were also eligible to receive the back to work family dividend.

The family income supplement and the back to work family dividend do not qualify for fuel allowance. However, former one-parent family payment recipients who were also in receipt of the family income supplement received a re-rated family income supplement when they transitioned from the one-parent family payment. They also qualified for the back to work family dividend – worth up to €1,550 per child in the first year.

The family income supplement, which is provided tax-free, is the best financial option that is available to lone parents. This is evident from the increase in the number of new family income supplement recipients that occurred in 2013 and 2014, and also in July, 2015, when 2,400 lone parents joined the family income supplement scheme for the first time.

In regard to families with children, including lone parent families, I was pleased to introduce in Budget 2016 a number of important measures including:

- A €5 increase in Child Benefit, which increases the rate from €135 to €140 per month per child. This will benefit over 623,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children;

- Increased funding for the School Meals programme of €3 million, bringing the provision to €42 million in 2016; and

- An additional €18 million to increase the Family Income Supplement (FIS) thresholds - by €5 for a family with one child and by €10 for a family with two children or more. This measure will benefit nearly 60,000 families and over 131,000 children.

Last year, I reintroduced a Christmas Bonus payable at 25% of the weekly rate. This year I am in a position to provide a 75% Christmas Bonus payment for certain welfare recipients. Individuals who are in receipt of the back to work family dividend will receive this year’s Christmas Bonus in respect of their dividend payment.