Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Christmas bonus is welcome. People have been struggling in recent years and it is a significant boost to their income at this time of the year. It will be welcomed by millions of people in the State. It is great that it has been reinstated in full. We know that many thousands of people are caring for parents or siblings in the home and the Minister referred to the "lower number of recipients than estimated - 1,294 lower than profiled". The carer's allowance by its nature is difficult to get.

There is no information on how to go about making an application for the allowance. Many people are refused and they appeal but that takes time. I have a case where a claimant was awarded carer's allowance in September but, two months later, they have still not been paid. It will be backdated but the system is slow. I would have expected many more people to have applied for the allowance. Is there any reason it has not happened? Perhaps the application process should be examined.

It is disappointing that more schools do not have access to school meals. The Minister stated that the lower take-up by schools in the 2018 budget is due to applications on hand that may not be processed by year end and to applications yet to be received. Is the Department expecting many more applications? Have the Estimates taken into account the possibility of more people applying?