Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 June 2026
356. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the first year and full year cost of expanding the working family payment threshold by 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% respectively.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46595/26]
View answerThe Working Family Payment is a weekly, tax-free payment available to low-paid employees with children. It provides extra financial support to families with children with rates of payment based on household income and family size. The rate of payment is derived from 60% of the gap between a family's income and the relevant income threshold. The Working Family payment has eight thresholds based on the family size.
To provide a percentage increase to these thresholds would require increasing each of the thresholds by a different amount. Estimating the cost of an increase to a threshold for Working Family Payment requires complex analysis and is difficult to estimate with accuracy given the dynamics of the labour market and wage fluctuations. Consequently, it is not possible to provide the costing requested by the Deputy.
Any changes to the Working Family Payment thresholds would need to be considered in a budgetary context.
