Vol. 382 No. 11
asked the Minister for Social Welfare the estimate for potential beneficiaries under the family income supplement at the time of its inception; the current number of recipients of this supplement; and the respective number in private and public sector employment who benefit under the family income supplement.
37.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether the commitment given in the Programme for National Recovery to undertake a review of the workings of the family income supplement scheme has taken place; if so, the names of the person/body who carried out this review; if the findings have yet been made available to him; if so, the nature of such findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 37 together.
When the family income supplement scheme was introduced in 1984 it was estimated that there could be up to between 30,000 and 35,000 beneficiaries under the scheme. The current number of recipients is some 5,400, of which some 73 per cent are in the private sector and some 27 per cent are in the public sector. The number of children benefiting as dependents is 19,500 (March 1988).
The commitment to review the workings of this scheme, which was given in the Programme for National Recovery, has been met. The review of the scheme is being carried out by Mr. John Blackwell of the Resource and Environmental Policy Centre at University College, Dublin. A draft report is currently being examined in my Department and will be discussed with the consultant shortly.
As the report is in draft, I do not think it appropriate to comment on the findings in detail at this stage. However, the review does suggest that the potential number of family income supplement recipients is of the order of 15,000 and not 30,000 to 35,000 as originally estimated.
The findings of the review, when finalised, will be taken into account in determining future policy in relation to the scheme.
