The issue of family income supplement payments being assessed as income for the purposes of determining entitlement to local authority rent payments is among a range of issues being considered currently by an interdepartmental steering group which is charged with overseeing a study of the disincentive effects of secondary benefits and other entitlements.
This group, which is chaired by my Department, comprises representatives from all the relevant Government Departments, including the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
The group commissioned independent consultants to examine the effects of secondary benefits on the incentive to take up employment and training opportunities. The consultants submitted their draft report shortly after Easter and this is currently being considered by the Departments concerned.
The draft report finds that the inclusion of FIS in the income assessment for local authority differential rent has a significant negative impact on families in this sector who are on low incomes and in receipt of FIS.
I have recently written to my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, asking him to review the issues involved in the light of the consultants' report and of the views expressed during the Committee Stage debate. I would be hopeful that in the light of the findings of the consultants who have considered this it will be possible to persuade the local authorities concerned to exclude FIS from their income assessments.