Peadar Clohessy
Question:47 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of people in receipt of family income supplement in Limerick city and county for each of the years from 1990 to 1992.
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The family income supplement scheme provides a weekly supplement to families with children, where one or more parent is in employment for at least 20 hours per week and where the income of the family is less than a prescribed weekly amount. It is designed to assist low earning families to remain in employment in circumstances where they might only be marginally better off than if they were claiming unemployment or disability benefits.
Since the scheme's inception in September 1984, there has been a steady increase in the number of families in receipt of family income supplement. In 1990 there were 6,569 families in receipt of the supplement covering 24,536 children, in 1991, 7,157 families with 25,816 children and in 1992 there were 7,735 families providing for 26,764 children.
The number of families from Limerick in receipt of the supplement in 1990 is not available. There were 280 families in receipt of family income supplement in Limerick in 1991 and 310 families receiving a weekly payment in 1992. A breakdown between Limerick city and county cannot be obtained.
The increased level of take-up reflects the major improvements which I have made to the scheme in recent years. These changes include: a substantial increase in the income limits for eligibility; a reduction in the hours-of-work qualification from 30 to 20 hours; an increase in the number of qualifying children in a family from five to eight; the abolition of the maximum rate of payment; the implementation of a minimum £5 weekly payment for all recipients; children aged between 18 and 21 who are attending full-time education are now regarded as qualifying children; the common fear among potential claimants that they risk losing the medical card has been removed.