Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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583. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) is being refused family income supplement when their employer has provided numerous confirmation letters that they work the required monthly hours to qualify for family income supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2944/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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An application for Working Family Payment (formerly known as Family Income Supplement) was received from the person concerned on 16^thNovember 2017.To qualify for Working Family Payment (WFP), a person must be engaged in full time remunerative employment as an employee for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight (or 19 hours per week). It is also possible to combine hours worked with a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant to meet this condition. If an applicant is paid on a 4 weekly basis, the required hours for WFP is 76 hours every 4 weeks and if paid on a monthly basis, this amounts to 82.33hours per month. This condition must be satisfied on an ongoing basis.

The person concerned is paid on a monthly basis. According to the monthly payslips submitted, the hours of employment amounted to less than 82.33 per month. This is less than 38 hours per fortnight.

As the person concerned does not satisfy the above condition, the application for WFP was refused.

The person concerned provided new payslips and the application was reviewed by a Deciding Officer (DO). The DO also considered documentation provided by the customer’s employer. However, based on all of the payslips and supporting documentation provided it would appear the applicant does not satisfy the required hours in order to qualify for WFP.

If the person concerned is not satisfied with this decision, a letter of appeal should be sent to the Social Welfare Appeals Office, D’Olier House, D’Olier Street, Dublin 2 stating clearly the grounds of their appeal.

Furthermore, if the applicant satisfies the qualifying conditions at a later stage, a new application may be submitted for assessment.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.