Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he has examined and costed, the possibility of introducing a sliding scale for family income supplement, as opposed to the current system of 19 hours per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21483/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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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 in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependants and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. There are over 56,000 families with more than 123,000 children in receipt of FIS, an increase of over 70 per cent since 2011. The estimated spend on FIS this year is approximately €410 million, an increase of around €60 million on last year.

To qualify for 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. The applicant must also have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them or is supported by them. Furthermore, the average family income must be below a specified amount which varies according to the number of qualified children in the family.

The “hours worked” eligibility criterion has been reduced significantly since the introduction of the scheme in 1984, from 30 hours per week to 19 hours per week in 1996. It is not possible to estimate the costs associated with replacing the current thresholds for FIS qualification without specifying a) a new hours threshold and b) the ‘sliding scale’.

Reducing the “hours worked” requirement would have implications for existing working age schemes. Under jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's allowance a person may, subject to scheme criteria, work for up to three days and continue to receive support under the schemes. Introducing a sliding scale would be significantly more complex than the present scheme and could require additional resources to administer.