Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 September 2016
456. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the cost in 2017 of disregarding family income supplement, FIS, when means testing for all social protection payments. [27520/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraSocial welfare legislation provides that Family Income Supplement (FIS) payments are not assessable when means testing assets and income for weekly social assistance schemes such as jobseeker’s allowance, disability allowance, one-parent family payment, carer’s allowance, State pension non-contributory and farm assist.
The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net scheme within the overall welfare system and provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. In order to determine eligibility for SWA, the means test for this scheme takes into account the value of weekly social welfare payments generally, including FIS payments. This is consistent with the overall objective of the scheme.
It is not possible, within the time available for this reply, to estimate the cost of disregarding FIS payments for SWA purposes. There are currently no plans to change the existing SWA rules in relation to FIS payments.
