Results 3,621-3,640 of 16,580 for speaker:Peadar Tóibín

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: I asked the Minister how many people will need the additional needs payment. How many people will be evicted?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: That means it is as long as a piece of string. Surely the Government made a decision on the basis of evidence. For example, the Minister would not vote to take away protection from eviction for people with disabilities unless she knew how many people were likely to be evicted in that cohort. I am sure she would not have allowed the Government to get rid of the safeguards against evictions...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: What is the demand?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: The Minister must have an idea of what it is going to cost.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: The Minister must have an idea of how much it will cost. Is she saying she does not have any idea of what the expected level of evictions will be in the next ten months? Is she honestly saying that the Government has made such a decision-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: We have 25 seconds left.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: But I have asked a question and the Minister has not answered it. It is a very relevant question.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: It is important that the Minister responds. It is scandalous that a Government Minister would make a decision on evictions without knowing how many people will be homeless.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: There was a real cut in social welfare rates last year, if we take inflation into account.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: Less than the rate of inflation.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: 94. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection what measures her Department is putting in place to help those affected by the ending of the eviction ban. [15132/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: In three days' time, there is about to be an avalanche of people who will be evicted in this State. In my county, there are 127 eviction notices and 31 properties for rent. There are zero emergency accommodation beds available through the local authority. Many people are lying in their beds in fear of what is about to happen to them. What mitigation policies has the Minister put in place...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: 90. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of individuals who availed of the winter fuel allowance payment in each of the past five years and to date in 2023. [15130/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: Irish energy poverty has reached record levels. Nearly one in three households is currently in fuel poverty. That is double what the figure was when the current Government was formed in 2020. It is a startling fact. Per capita, Ireland is now also considered one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, more affluent than every other country except Luxembourg. Does the Minister see anything...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: The Minister has provided startling information. At one level we have a big increase in population and a doubling of the number of families living in fuel poverty, yet the Government's response in real figures is such that in 2018 there were 380,000 households in receipt of fuel allowance and in 2022 the figure was 393,000. That is incredible. The number of people in receipt of fuel...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: I am startled at these figures. The Minister mentioned fluctuating numbers of people receiving fuel allowance. The price of fuel is fluctuating upwards only. There has been a massive expansion in the number of people in fuel poverty yet we have rigid figures for the number of people in receipt of fuel allowance. The Minister talks about expansion of the means test. That is because there...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: 80. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will reopen a full-time social protection office in Castlepollard, County Meath. [15407/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: Castlepollard is a vibrant, strong rural town. It has a hinterland that stretches for miles. Like many other rural towns, it has been devastated in recent years by the closure of a number of key businesses and services within that town. It lost banks, it has lost shops, etc. The latest blow to Castlepollard has been the closure by Fine Gael of the full-time social welfare office in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: The Minister is saying on one level that she did not close it and on another level that it is only operational two days a week because there is not enough business to go through it.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Peadar Tóibín: The Minister is responsible for the delivery of that service in towns such as Castlepollard. The Minister goes on to say people can travel down the road to Mullingar. The Minister may not be aware that in many regional rural towns there are difficulties with public transport. There are definitely difficulties with private transport currently for many people on lower incomes given the...