Written answers
Thursday, 19 June 2025
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- Social Welfare Appeals
99. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he has any plans to review the appeals process for the domiciliary care allowance; and if he will make a statement on the... - Social Welfare Payments
100. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the initiatives he is taking to support foster carers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33147/25] - Social Welfare Appeals
105. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average processing times for social welfare appeals for each social welfare scheme; the number of successful appeals... - Social Welfare Payments
106. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of funeral assistance grants paid out over the past five years; the number refused, by county, in tabular form;... - Social Welfare Benefits
107. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he recognises the anomaly in the social welfare system which means that people in receipt of widow’s pension, and... - School Meals Programme
108. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount allocated to the school meal holiday programme; the number of schools taking part, by county, in tabular form; the... - Social Welfare Schemes
109. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on the expansion of the wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32899/25] - Departmental Strategies
110. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide details on any specific cross-departmental mechanisms in place to ensure that the lived experience of... - Social Welfare Payments
111. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of people who will receive an increase in their carer’s allowance payment when the changes to the means... - Child Poverty
113. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress which has been made to examine ways to lift more children in Ireland out of child poverty and the expected... - Social Welfare Payments
114. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the breakdown of job seekers allowance recipients by length of time they have been in receival of the payment, under 1 year,... - Social Welfare Code
115. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection how he is ensuring that the social welfare system is progressive and empowers people with a disability to live full and... - Employment Schemes
116. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures he is taking to support more disabled people into employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter.... - Social Welfare Payments
117. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of carers in Kilkenny and Carlow that received the carer’s support grant in 2025; how the number of... - State Pensions
118. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the commitment to examine what modification can be made to support women who fall outside of existing... - Social Welfare Eligibility
119. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he expects the Programme for Government pledge to remove the means test requirement for qualification for a carers... - Social Welfare Payments
121. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for the up to date position on the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner’s Pension) Bill 2025; the number of applications... - Social Welfare Code
122. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on his Department's review of all its social assistance schemes; if he will consider adapting the means-testing... - Social Welfare Benefits
123. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the breakdown of illness benefit recipients by length of time they have been in receival of the payment, under 1 year,... - Social Welfare Code
124. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to a report (details supplied); his plans to address the gap between the better off and those... - Social Welfare Payments
125. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of people in receipt of a widow’s pension who are under age 66; if he will provide an estimated cost of... - Public Sector Pensions
126. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when his Department became aware of the overpayment of pensions to Ministers and civil servants; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Eligibility
127. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to outline his plans to abolish the means testing for carer's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32977/25] - Employment Support Services
128. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to provide increased flexibility to local CE, TÚS and rural social schemes to retain participants for longer,... - Public Sector Pensions
129. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to detail the interaction there has been between his Department’s secretary-general and the counterpart in the... - Public Services Card
130. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount of expenditure to date regarding the creation and operation of the Public Services Card; the amount expended in... - Social Welfare Payments
132. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the carer's allowance weekly income disregard will increase from €450 to €625 for a single person, and... - Departmental Strategies
133. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will report on his Department’s annual social inclusion forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter.... - Social Welfare Payments
135. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a poverty impact assessment was carried out on the Government’s decision to allow for rents to be reset to market... - Gender Recognition
137. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department is responsible for issuing gender recognition certificates; and if he will make a statement on the matter.... - Departmental Strategies
138. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the new roadmap for social inclusion will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32905/25] - Social Welfare Payments
139. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of supplementary welfare allowances paid out, by county, over the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will... - Social Welfare Eligibility
140. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the means test for disability allowance will be abolished; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32965/25] - Social Welfare Payments
141. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider changing the farm assist payment to a credited contribution while in payment; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Benefits
142. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider extending social welfare benefits to surrogate parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter.... - Social Welfare Payments
143. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons over 66 who have qualified for the fuel allowance since the expanded means test for over 66s was... - Employment Support Services
144. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to improve access to the workforce for people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.... - Social Welfare Payments
145. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total number of people who have had the carer’s allowance removed from them in each of the past ten years, and to... - Social Welfare Eligibility
146. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will give a timeline for implementing the Programme for Government commitment to phase out means testing for the... - Social Welfare Payments
147. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline his plans to reform the domiciliary care allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33184/25] - Social Welfare Benefits
148. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of a cohort of people in the State with five plus years of PRSI contributions who are only entitled to the... - Employment Support Services
149. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to expand and build on successful programmes like WorkAbility and Employability to support people with disabilities... - Pension Provisions
150. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 31 of 11 May 2023, if the discussions between his Department and the Department of... - Social Welfare Payments
151. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the improvements he is planning in relation to the fuel allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32978/25] - Social Welfare Appeals
152. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to give an update on work his Department is doing to decrease social welfare appeal waiting times; the current average time... - Departmental Strategies
153. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the commitment to reduce consistent poverty to 2% by 2025 in the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 has been... - Social Welfare Code
154. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to develop a pension solution for foster carers in recognition of the enormous contribution they make to vulnerable... - Pension Provisions
155. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the means by which his Department is assisting businesses to plan for auto-enrolment; and if he will make a statement on the... - Social Welfare Code
157. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to extend social welfare payments, benefits and allowances to foster carers; and if he will make a statement on the... - Community Employment Schemes
158. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of the growing difficulties faced by community and voluntary organisations across County Tipperary in... - Child Poverty
159. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps he will take to address the massive rise in consistent poverty among children; and if he will make a statement on... - Social Welfare Payments
160. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide a breakdown of the number of families that have benefitted from the newborn baby grant since its introduction; his... - State Pensions
161. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he intends to review the current weekly means limit for the increase for qualified adult allowance for recipients of the... - Data Protection
162. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if, further to the most recent fine imposed on his Department by the data protection commissioner for deficiencies in... - Social Welfare Eligibility
163. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will ensure entitlement to disability allowance for young people who have been in receipt of domiciliary care... - Social Welfare Offices
165. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions his Department will take to alleviate the issue of the great difficulty persons have in meeting with the... - Social Welfare Benefits
166. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of extending illness benefit to the self-employed; the estimated increase in PRSI rates that would be required to... - Departmental Communications
167. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department regularly shares data with the Criminal Assets Bureau of An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Schemes
168. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to confirm that parents/guardians of children who are blind and in receipt of a free travel pass will also receive a travel... - Employment Support Services
169. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to detail any plans he has to review the wage subsidy scheme. [31582/25] - Social Welfare Payments
170. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the improvements he is planning in relation to the living alone allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter.... - Official Engagements
171. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will report on his attendance at the annual carers’ forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32902/25] - Employment Support Services
172. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will report on his engagement to encourage employers to utilise the wage subsidy scheme; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Payments
173. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total number of persons in receipt of the carers allowance at year end for each of the past ten years; and the current... - Departmental Communications
174. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will ensure that his Department will examine the case for TDs having direct access, a local dedicated phoneline or... - Social Welfare Benefits
176. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide a breakdown, by county, of the number of persons who have qualified for the new pay-related benefit since... - Social Welfare Code
177. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the initiatives he is taking to support kinship carers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33042/25] - Social Welfare Payments
180. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of the fact that when custody is split between two separated or divorced co-parents there is no mechanism by... - Social Welfare Benefits
181. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of people who have availed of parents benefit in each of the years 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in... - Social Welfare Eligibility
183. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will review and change the current very penal means test calculation on land or savings on, for example, the...
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