Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo the comments on the staff of the Department in the offices around the country as well as here in Dublin. I appreciate all the assistance my office receives from them. To start on a positive note, I mention the school meals. This is something I very much believe in and have argued for over a long period. It is very positive to see it happening.

There are a few bits and pieces. The humanitarian scheme again is very well-administered. There are one or two - I do not know whether to call them anomalies - difficulties for people seeking to claim in circumstances where people have no insurance, which is obviously very common in areas prone to flooding. The restrictions that exist in the form of the contribution an applicant must make themselves can make it very difficult for people to rebuild and restore their houses to the prior condition. I am aware people can still get the humanitarian allowance, but the contribution they must make themselves is more substantial. I might send on details of a case I came across recently of somebody in the Naval Service whose home was damaged. They qualified for less than they expected because the bank statements they submitted reflected a time in which they were deployed. They are not currently deployed and are not expecting to be anytime soon, so their real income is much less than would have been the case if a longer look-back had been applied.

Pay-related benefit for jobseekers was provided for in the budget. It is difficult to get my head around exactly what is going to transpire because it is subject to final design. I am wondering what calculation the €5 million provided for December 2024 reflects. We have the straw man and the sense of the €450 cap and the six months and the Minister has given some commentary on it in recent days as well, but I want to get a sense of what precisely the €5 million provided for is based on and whether it gives us an insight into what exactly is going to transpire next December. There will probably further consultations on it. I probably have two more questions, but I will let the Minister respond to that much first.