Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
1624. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of increasing the income thresholds for family income supplement by amounts (details supplied), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1230/18]
View answerIn the context of Budget 2018 it was decided to re-designate the Family Income Supplement (FIS) scheme as the Working Family Payment (WFP). The Working Family Payment is an in-work support, which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children and offers a financial incentive to take-up employment. There are currently over 57,000 families with nearly 129,939 children in receipt of the WFP. The estimated spend on WFP this year is approximately €431 million.
The estimated full year cost in 2018 of increasing the income thresholds of the Working Family payment by €5, €10, €15, €20 and €25 is as follows:
|
Increase |
Estimated Full Year Additional Cost |
|
€5 |
€11.7 |
|
€10 |
€21.9 |
|
€15 |
€31.5 |
|
€20 |
€43.2 |
|
€25 |
€53.6 |
It is worth noting that Budget 2018 increased the income thresholds by €10 for families with up to three children. This change will take effect from 29 March 2018; it is likely that as a result of this increase additional families who are not currently in receipt of the WFP will become eligible for the scheme. The figures above include an estimate of this additional inflow. Any further changes to the WFP income thresholds would have significant cost implications and would have to be considered in an overall budgetary context.
