Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1190. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if a person's mortgage repayments are taken into account when calculating a person's allowance entitlement as part of the family income supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33907/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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One of the qualifying conditions for Family Income Supplement (FIS) is that the weekly family income must be less than a set limit for their family size.

Weekly Family Income is the amount of all income received in a week by a family. Examples of family income are earnings, social welfare payments, maintenance payments, income from self-employment, rental income, farm income or any contribution to your household from an ex-spouse, ex-civil partner, ex-cohabitant or the parent(s) of any of your children.

Social Welfare legislation does not allow for the disregard from weekly family income of expenditure on capital improvements or paying the mortgage(s) on your primary or secondary residences, management fees or expenditure on weekly groceries.

However, unlike other Social Welfare schemes which are Means-Tested, FIS is an income supplement and is an income-tested scheme.

Capital assessments are not carried out.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.