Vol. 468 No. 4
760 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Social Welfare the changes, if any, in regulations that are enforced which militate against certain families (details supplied) who in the past were eligible for a family income supplement but who now are deemed to be ineligible; the plans, if any, he has to review this matter with a view to improving conditions for low paid persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15818/96]
Family income supplement is currently available to employees on low earnings with children. The person referred to by the Deputy was in receipt of FIS while her spouse was claiming her as an adult dependant on his unemployment assistance payment. Social welfare legislation precludes this situation and the FIS claimant was notified as soon as the full details of the case became known. If the family income supplement payable to her was less than the adult dependant allowance it would not be of benefit to her to forego the adult dependant allowance. FIS is designed to encourage unemployed people with families to take up work as opposed to claiming unemployment payments. The concurrent payment of unemployment assistance and FIS would, therefore, be inconsistent with the purpose of FIS. Since taking office, I have consistently improved the provisions governing FIS. The 1996 budget increased the family income limits by £10 thereby ensuring that most recipients will receive an increase of £6 per week. Other improvements in FIS announced in this year's budget includes a reduction, from six to three months, in the minimum period which the employment is expected to last; a reduction in the number of hours which must be worked in order to qualify for FIS, from 20 hours per week to thirty eight hours per fortnight; the extension of FIS to jobsharers and increasing the rate of FIS payable on the birth of a child, rather than awaiting the annual review of the entitlement. In addition, this year's Social Welfare Act provides for a further improvement which allows people who have been unemployed for 12 months or more to retain entitlement to increases for children payable at the full rate, for a period of up to 13 weeks on taking up employment which is expected to last for at least four weeks. This improvement will alleviate the difficulties encountered by some families during the period between the termination of their unemployment payment and the award of FIS. This initiative is designed to complement the support provided by FIS for low paid workers. FIS is kept under constant review by my Department with a view to introducing further changes designed to assist families with children in low paid employment. Further improvements must, however, be made in the light of available resources and in a budgetary context.
