Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 April 2018
1420. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the recent Social Justice Ireland poverty focus 2018 report on poverty levels among workers includes the circa 57,000 households in receipt of family income supplement, now the working family payment; if not, the bearing this would have on the report's findings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15405/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Poverty Focus 2018 report was produced by Social Justice Ireland and represents their analysis of the 2016 CSO SILC data. My Department cannot therefore comment with certainty on the detail of the analysis in the report.
The most up to date data on poverty in Ireland is contained in the CSO’s annual Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) results.
The SILC report for 2016 indicated that the risk of poverty for those in work was 5.6%. Here, a person is defined as being at risk of poverty if living in a household with an equivalised income below 60% of the median income in the country. Household income is defined as inclusive of all social transfers.
In response to an inquiry from my Department, the CSO has indicated, based on analysis of the underlying SILC data, that the risk of poverty among those in work would have been 6.1% if reported income from Family Income Supplement had been excluded from the reported income of all households. It should be noted that exclusion of FIS from the concept of income would lead to some small change in the median income (and thus of the poverty threshold) by comparison with the median income data published in the official SILC report.
