James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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627. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider including persons on community employment schemes with young families for the working family payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42190/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Community Employment (CE) is the largest employment programme administered by the Department and is a valuable resource for both jobseekers and communities. This scheme aims to enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. In addition, it helps long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a regular work routine.

Working Family Payment (WFP) provides an income support for employees on low earnings with families. This is a weekly tax-free payment for families, including one-parent families, at work on low pay.

In general a person must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee, have at least one qualified child, who normally resides with them or is part of a family wholly or mainly supported by them and the weekly family Income is less than a set limit for their family size.

A person on a Work Scheme such as CE is not considered to be in full-time employment and is therefore excluded from claiming WFP while participating on the programme.