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Family Income Supplement expenditure will increase to over €280 million in 2014 - Burton
Social Protection Minister Joan Burton, has today outlined how the Department’s spend on Family Income Supplement (FIS) will increase to more than €280 million this year – a 25% increase since 2012.
FIS is a weekly tax-free top-up payment for employees on low pay with children. At present, more than 44,000 working families with more than 98,000 children benefit from the scheme.
The 2014 budget for the scheme represents an increase of 25% since 2012, when the total FIS spend was €224 million. Total FIS spend in 2013 was €262 million.
Minister Burton said: “I am increasing the provision for FIS again in 2014, despite the pressures on the overall welfare budget, because of its crucial importance to working families. All the evidence shows that people are better off in work, and FIS helps recipients to gain a firm foothold in work and build a better future for their families.
The Minister said that welfare recipients considering a job offer but unsure of the potential financial benefits should avail of the Benefit of Work Ready Reckoner at www.welfare.ie or in the Department’s Intreo centres nationwide.
The Ready Reckoner is a tool that highlights the difference for jobseekers between potential income from work and the welfare payments they currently receive. It helps jobseekers assess the benefits of taking up work opportunities as the economy recovers and 1,200 new jobs a week are created.
The Ready Reckoner calculates weekly take-home pay based on standard tax credits for certain categories of people and it will help those people to determine their financial position if they accept an offer of work