Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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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]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is very conscious of the important role of foster carers in our society. Support for foster carers is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, and Tusla, an agency under the aegis of that Department.The Foster Care Allowance is paid by Tusla. In 2025 it is paid at rate of €400 per week for children aged under 12 and €425 per week for children aged 12 and over. The payment is not means-tested and it is paid in respect of each foster child.In the Programme for Government, we committed to examining the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance eligibility criteria to allow flexibility for foster carers. We have done that and I am really pleased that children for whom Foster Care Allowance is being paid will be eligible for the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance this year, once they meet the qualifying conditions for the payment. This is something that representative groups have been calling for. It is estimated that up to 2,300 children, for whom Foster Care Allowance is being paid, will now qualify for the payment. Applications for this scheme are now open until 30 September.My Department provides a comprehensive package of income supports covering a range of contingencies such as disability, caring and job seeking. Foster carers may qualify for these income supports as long as they meet the eligibility conditions. Where a foster carer is in receipt of a primary payment from my Department they may be eligible for a Child Support Payment in respect of any foster child in their care.It is important to note too that the Foster Care Allowance is not assessed as means for any social welfare payments provided by my department.Where a child is placed into care, the qualified parent, usually the child’s mother, retains the Child Benefit payment for six months. After six months in continuous care, the Child Benefit for the child may be paid to the foster carer. This is in order to preserve the birth parent’s entitlement where the child is placed in short-term foster care.I know pensions are another issue of concern to foster carers. The current State Pension Contributory system provides measures including PRSI credits, Homemaking Disregards and HomeCaring Periods to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid employment in the calculation of a payment rate. Foster carers are entitled to the benefits of the Homemaker’s Scheme or HomeCaring Periods, and they may also be entitled to long-term carer’s contributions where they meet the criteria and 20-year threshold.Officials from my Department have met with Foster Carer Representatives and provided detailed explanations on the State pension system and the related contributions necessary to qualify for a social-insurance pension and the options open to them.I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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101. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on plans to introduce a permanent annual cost of disability support payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32996/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits to introducing a permanent annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment.Developments in this area will build on progress made in recent years where steps have been taken in recognition of the additional costs associated with having a disability. Over the last four budgets, the Government has progressively improved payment rates and income disregards for disabled people.However, we know that addressing the cost of disability is not a question of income support alone. The delivery of and access to services are also key. The Indecon report on the cost of disability, commissioned and funded by my Department, found that the extra costs of disability are due to a number of factors including higher costs of healthcare, transport, education and other services that arise because of a higher level of dependence on these services by people with disabilities.The Government has prioritised the development of a new National Disability Strategy. This is a whole of government strategy, led by my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality and Youth, with involvement of all Ministers. It's focus is on improving access to services and reducing these extra costs.Further highlighting the cross-departmental nature of these issues and the need for a coordinated approach, the Taoiseach has set up a Disability Programme Office in his own Department. He has also established a dedicated Cabinet Committee on disability with a view to driving and monitoring progress in this area.Our Programme for Government commitments will be advanced over the lifetime of the Government in the context of overall policy and budget demands.

Micheál Carrigy (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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102. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average processing time for applications for each payment under his Department’s remit; if he plans to introduce new targets and provide additional resources to expedite the turnaround times in processing applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32708/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department regularly monitors and reviews the processing times for the schemes it administers. The targets are reviewed each year as part of the Estimates process, and also form part of the Public Service Performance Report compiled by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, alongside other Departmental targets. The Comptroller and Auditor General examined the methodology for the targets in the review of the 2018 accounts and found that the measures used are suitable, relevant, and reliable.The volume of claims received, the average processing time, the performance under the current target, and any operational changes are all considered when a decision is made to revise a target. At present, the Department is meeting or exceeding performance on nearly all of its schemes.This is reflected in the tables, which I will forward onto the Deputy, setting out the information he sought in the question. As shown in that table, and even though there is a continuous year-on-year increase in claim volumes related both to population growth and aging, and due to the impact of events like the war in Ukraine, most schemes are performing at the same level or better, in the case of disability allowance considerably better, than they were in 2024.Processing times and the allocation of resources is kept under constant review and resources are, when necessary, allocated to maintain service levels. The Working Family Payment scheme has, for example, received a significant increase in new claims, and additional resources have been allocated to deal with this higher volume.Similarly our Appeals Service has, related to the overall increase in claim volumes, also experienced an increase in appeals received and additional resources have recently been deployed to reduce backlogs and restore service levels.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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103. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of making fuel allowance universal for everyone over 70; that consideration will be given to implementing this change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33132/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks. That is a total of €924 each year, available from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €400 million in 2025.The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment, a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria. This ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment is targeted at those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own. Awarding the Fuel Allowance Payment to all those aged over 70 irrespective of their means or household composition would change the targeted nature of the Fuel Allowance payment.The Household Benefits Package is universally available to those aged 70 and older with one package per household. Based on similar numbers of over 70 households qualifying for the Fuel Allowance payment it is estimated an additional 60,000 households would qualifying for the Fuel Allowance payment at an additional cost of €55.4 million per year.The Programme for Government includes a commitment to examine key ancillary benefits such as the fuel allowance, household benefits package and living alone allowance to support vulnerable groups. This is, in fact, an ongoing activity as part of the Department's budget planning each year. For example there have been a number of expansions under recent budgets to the Fuel Allowance to make it easier for those aged 70 or over to qualify for the payment.In 2023 the over 70s enhanced Fuel Allowance qualifying criteria were introduced. These enhanced measures included an easier means threshold for those aged over 70 and no requirement to be in receipt of a qualifying Social Welfare payment.In addition, for people aged 70 or over, the amount of capital ( that is savings and investments) disregarded in the means test for Fuel Allowance was increased from €20,000 to €50,000. Any future decisions will, of course, have to take account of the overall budgetary context and the availability of financial resources.

Noel McCarthy (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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104. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the Programme for Government commitment to extend the period of a social welfare payment following the death of a dependent from 6 to 12 weeks; the estimated cost of such an extension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33139/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The parties to Government have agreed a number of commitments that are to be achieved over the lifetime of the Government, some of which are relevant to my Department.Deputies can be assured that I am determined to deliver on these commitments and will take the opportunity afforded at budget time each year to progress them as far as possible. Deputies will understand that not everything can be delivered all at once but the commitments we made in forming the Government will be delivered over the full term of the Government.I have already commenced consideration of options for the Social Protection package as part of Budget 2026 including extending the period of payment after death, where on the death of the recipient, qualified adult or child, the benefit in question continues to be paid for a number of weeks.The proposal in the Programme for Government is to extend the period of payment after death from the current 6 weeks to 12 weeks. While in general, across Social Welfare schemes, payment continues for a period of 6 weeks after death, there are some exceptions.In fact some Social Welfare Payments are already paid for a period of 12 weeks after the death of the recipient. In the case of Carer’s Allowance, the payment continues for a period of 12 weeks after the death of the person being cared for and in the case of Domiciliary Care Allowance, payment currently continues for a period of 3 months after the death of the recipient.Like all budget provisions, such a measure is subject to the overall budgetary context and competing priorities, and I will not at this time, so far in advance of the budget, be making any commitments one way or the other.I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.