Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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335. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason that a person (details supplied) in County Cork had their claims disallowed in respect of the working family payment and the back to school clothing and footwear allowance given that they qualified for these payments to date and given that their income was moderately in excess of the fixed limit for the size of their family. [47257/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Working Family Payment (WFP) is an income-tested weekly payment which provides additional financial support to employees on low earnings with children. WFP provides financial support for employees who have low earnings/income relative to their family size. The WFP rate payable is 60% of the difference between the average weekly family income and the relevant prescribed income limit.

In order to qualify for WFP, a family's income must be below a prescribed limit which varies in accordance with the number of qualified children. All family and household income is assessable for WFP and includes an applicant's and their spouse/partner's average net weekly assessable earnings from employment plus any other income such as other social welfare payments, income from self employment, etc.

An application for WFP was received from the person concerned on 5th June 2022. A Deciding Officer reviewed the application, and this application was disallowed as their weekly family income was not less than the prescribed income level for their family size (3 qualified children).

The Department then received a request from the person concerned to have a review of this decision carried out. A Deciding Officer completed the review, and the decision to disallow the application was upheld, based on the household income being in excess of the prescribed income limit for the family size. The person concerned has been notified of this in writing and details of how the decision can be appealed have been outlined in the letter.

If the person concerned has a change in their financial circumstances or they satisfy the conditions for WFP at a later stage they may reapply for WFP.

An application for Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) was received from the person concerned on 22nd July 2022. The application was processed and the person concerned passed all criteria but failed on the means test as the family income was over the income limit for a family with three children. A review was carried out on the application, and the original decision to disallow the application has been revised. BSCFA has been awarded and the person concerned has been notified of this.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.