Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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13. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to review the cessation of payments under the family income supplement scheme to persons on their reaching 22 years of age, given that he or she may continue to be a full-time dependant in full-time education. [4734/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The family income supplement (FIS) is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. FIS is designed to prevent child and family poverty and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment as compared to social welfare payments.There are currently over 55,000 families with some 122,000 children in receipt of FIS. Expenditure on FIS is estimated to be of the order of €410 million in 2016.

Families on low incomes can avail of a number of provisions to social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including:

- family income supplement (FIS) for low-paid employees with children;

- qualified child increases (IQCs) with primary social welfare payments;

- The back to school clothing and footwear allowance for low income families (paid at the full-time second level education rate).

Specifically in regard to the Family Income Supplement, a person who attains the age of 22 years during an academic year shall continue to be regarded as a qualified child while receiving full-time education for the duration of that academic year.

The above social welfare measures provide a level of assistance which is directly linked with a household’s income situation. I am satisfied that the social protection system currently provides appropriate assistance to families with older children who are participating in full-time education and that this support is targeted at low-income families.