A person is regarded as being available for employment if he or she is prepared to accept any offers of suitable full-time employment. In considering entitlement under this condition, account is taken of the person's skills, qualifications and experience, duration of period of unemployment and the availability of job vacancies in the locality. The question of specific support for the costs of child care is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform whose Department administers the equal opportunities childcare programme under the national development plan.
My Department administers the family income supplement, FIS, scheme, an in-work income support designed to provide cash support for employees on low earnings with families, to help preserve the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if they were claiming other social welfare payments. A range of improvements introduced to FIS in recent years, including the assessment of entitlement on the basis of net rather than gross income and the progressive increases in income limits, has made it easier for lower income households to qualify under the scheme.