Written answers
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- Employment Rights
1742. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the work being done to resolve the problem of bogus self-employment in the building sector; if he... - Sustainable Development Goals
1743. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on progress in respect of fulfilling the Government’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal... - School Meals Programme
1745. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of primary and post primary DEIS schools that currently do not offer a breakfast club, and to provide the... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1747. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a social enterprise seeking to support survivors of SGBV would not be eligible for BTWEA/STEA; if he has plans to... - Social Welfare Payments
1748. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will examine the case of refusal of carer's support grant for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Schemes
1749. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of people receiving full or half rate carer's allowance that have had a review of their claim twice in eight... - Departmental Legal Services
1750. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total spend by his Department on external legal services in each of the past three years; the main areas of legal... - Departmental Legal Cases
1752. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount spent on legal fees associated with litigation, advice and settlements in each of the past three years by his... - Social Welfare Appeals
1753. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an appeal by a person (details supplied) regarding partial capacity benefit; that serious consideration would... - Social Welfare Payments
1754. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason a blind pension payment has been stopped for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the... - Departmental Correspondence
1755. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 629 of 17 July 2025, the reason he issued a hard copy response to the representation... - Social Welfare Rates
1756. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will increase core social welfare rates by €16 per week as part of the Government’s target to reduce... - Social Welfare Schemes
1757. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will increase the index-link of the income disregard for the one-parent family payment and jobseeker’s... - Social Welfare Rates
1758. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will increase the living alone allowance to ensure a targeted measure to support single adult households, in line with... - Grant Payments
1760. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide the total number of grant payments issued by the Department in each of the past five years, along with the total... - Social Welfare Fraud
1761. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount of money paid to fraudulent applicants by his Department, in each of the past ten years; and the amount which has... - Social Welfare Benefits
1762. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who applied for job seeker's allowance or job seeker's benefit who listed their previous employment as... - School Meals Programme
1763. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will increase the roll-out of free hot school meals to all children and ensure ongoing evaluation of their nutritional... - Social Welfare Rates
1764. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will ensure households are able to purchase the essential energy they need to stay warm and well, and raise the fuel... - Social Welfare Schemes
1765. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will fulfil the commitment in the programme for Government and extend the fuel allowance to recipients of the working... - Social Welfare Payments
1766. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will introduce a weekly cost of disability payment of €55 to cover the additional costs facing people with a... - Social Welfare Appeals
1767. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of long waiting times currently in his Department regarding the settling of appeals, particularly in terms of... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1768. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the high level of care needed for a child from his mother (details supplied) is not being taken fully into... - Departmental Data
1769. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 646 of 15 July 2025, if he accepts that his Department, using as it does its... - Social Welfare Payments
1770. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of payments made in respect of the homeowner’s once-off payment in lieu of mortgage interest tax credit to... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1771. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an application by a person (details supplied) for the homeowner’s once-off payment will be reviewed. [41340/25] - Social Welfare Schemes
1772. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated timeframe for completion of reviews of applications for carer’s allowance; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Appeals
1773. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the carer’s allowance application of a person (details supplied). [41398/25] - Social Welfare Schemes
1774. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the plans his Department has to make those carers in receipt of a State pension eligible for the full rate of carer’s... - Social Welfare Payments
1775. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason for social welfare payment delays on 7 and 14 July 2025; the way in which the issue was rectified; the measures... - Social Welfare Schemes
1776. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the projected cost in 2026 of increasing the income disregard for carer’s allowance to €750 (single) and... - Legislative Process
1778. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 will be enacted; when it will be... - Social Welfare Schemes
1779. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the social welfare payments available without habitual residence as a stipulation. [41489/25] - Social Welfare Appeals
1787. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on a social welfare appeal (details supplied); and if a decision has been reached regarding this... - Social Welfare Schemes
1788. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the supplementary welfare grant system can be used to apply for assistance with the provision, or upgrade of, a mobility... - Social Welfare Payments
1789. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if funding under food and basic material support for specific items has been withdrawn (details supplied); if so, the reason... - School Meals Programme
1790. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on the school meals scheme; the details of both schemes; the way in which funding is allocated; the rate for... - Departmental Consultations
1791. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if organisations (details supplied) are to be excluded from his Department's pre-budget forum in July as they were in 2024;... - Social Welfare Rates
1792. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if there are plans to increase the payment rate for people in receipt of half-rate carer's allowance; and if he will make a... - Pension Provisions
1793. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if budget 2026 will offer better pension security for foster carers so the years spent caring for children on behalf of the... - Judicial Reviews
1794. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will order a judicial review into a matter (details supplied). [41817/25] - Pension Provisions
1797. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to intervene in relation to the pension entitlements of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the... - Defibrillators Provision
1799. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if each Intreo office has a defibrillator within the office and all staff within that office are fully trained in the use of... - Pension Provisions
1800. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if employers will be allowed to enrol higher rate taxpayers in a company pension scheme and other employees in My Future... - Social Welfare Appeals
1802. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department will investigate the undue delay in an invalidity pension appeal case (details supplied); the likely date... - Social Welfare Payments
1803. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the timeframe for new applications for disability allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41981/25] - Social Welfare Appeals
1808. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the timeframe for appeals with the social welfare appeals office for disability allowance, broken down into county and wait... - Social Welfare Payments
1812. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the timeframe for new applications received in 2025 to date for exceptional needs payments in Wicklow; the current... - Social Welfare Appeals
1815. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of an appeal for supplementary welfare allowance for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement... - Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence
1816. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection with reference to the programme for Government’s commitment to ‘examine how the social protection system can... - Ministerial Responsibilities
1819. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he uses personal emails for his Government business; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42152/25] - Social Welfare Eligibility
1820. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to a case (details supplied); the actions he is taking to ensure that this behaviour is... - Pension Provisions
1821. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an invalidity pension for a person (details supplied) will be approved immediately. [42234/25] - Social Welfare Appeals
1822. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a detailed response will issue to a carer’s allowance case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on... - Pension Provisions
1823. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when it will be possible for qualified cohabitants to apply for a bereaved partner’s pension, given that the Social... - Social Insurance
1824. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 159 of 16 July 2025, if he will intervene in relation to the matter; if he will... - Social Welfare Application Forms
1825. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for all social welfare claim forms to be available to download online; if he is aware of the delay in emailing a request for... - Social Welfare Schemes
1826. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide details of education-upskilling courses available under the back to education scheme; the measures being taken to... - Public Services Card
1827. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of ongoing issues with the PSC online renewal system in accepting photographs; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Benefits
1828. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for consideration on providing free travel for all means tested social welfare recipients, to promote the use of public... - Social Welfare Payments
1829. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for a review of how social welfare repayment statements are issued out to individuals; currently if more than one... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1830. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason teachers are exempt from jobseeker's pay-related benefit and are unable to claim this payment when they are out... - Departmental Expenditure
1832. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount spent by his Department and State bodies under its aegis on travel and subsistence in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and... - Pension Provisions
1833. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason an application for a non-contributory pension by a person (details supplied) was unsuccessful; the options... - Departmental Contracts
1834. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to state whether his Department or any agency operating under its aegis has, in the past five years, used reserved contracts... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1835. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the value of a person’s house is disregarded as part of an application for a disability allowance; and if he will... - Pension Provisions
1837. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will review the case of a person (details supplied) whose application for invalidity pension has been repeatedly... - School Meals Programme
1839. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when the hot school meals programme will be expanded to the schools announced in April 2025, given that these schools still... - Capital Expenditure Programme
1843. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details of the capital funding programmes or grants for which his Department or any body under his aegis has... - School Meals Programme
1845. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of school children who will be in receipt of hot meals from the start of the next school year, by county, in... - Departmental Communications
1847. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline the process by which his Department contacts the British work and pensions department seeking... - Departmental Consultations
1848. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline the nature and extent of engagement his Department has had with other Government agencies and Departments... - Social Welfare Schemes
1849. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for an update on the work and access scheme; the numbers using it; his plans to increase this number and improve the scheme;... - Social Welfare Appeals
1852. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline the current waiting times at the Appeals Office, and if additional resources will be allocated to it; and... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1853. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he has plans to improve processing times for those who do not have year-long contracts and must avail of social... - Social Welfare Payments
1856. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an application for a carer’s benefit will be approved for a person (details supplied). [43618/25] - Social Welfare Rates
1859. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of increasing all core social welfare payments by €1, providing a breakdown, in tabular form; and if he will... - Social Welfare Payments
1860. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total number of carers in receipt of the carer's support grant; providing a breakdown of the number eligible due to... - Departmental Staff
1861. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of full-time equivalents directly employed by his Department, broken down by grade, in tabular form. [43667/25] - Information and Communications Technology
1862. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether his Department has a policy or goal of better insourcing of IT requirements and needs of the Department for better... - Social Welfare Payments
1863. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an application for disability allowance can be approved for a person (details supplied). [43792/25] - Social Welfare Rates
1865. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the child support payment for under-12s by €6 or €10 and for over-12s by... - Social Welfare Benefits
1866. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the current cost of the free travel scheme; the number of participants; the projected cost of introducing free travel to... - Social Welfare Payments
1868. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing eligibility thresholds for SWA by 10%, 20%, 30% respectively, in tabular form; and if he... - Social Welfare Benefits
1869. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of expanding eligibility for fuel allowance to all those on the working family payment; and if he will... - Social Welfare Rates
1870. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing fuel allowance by €5 or €10 a week; and if he will make a statement on the... - Social Welfare Payments
1872. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of introducing a €30 per week cost of disability payment; and if he will make a statement on the... - Community Welfare Services
1873. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of every additional ten community welfare officers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44034/25] - Social Welfare Schemes
1874. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost to extend the JST to one-parent families in work, training or education; and if he will make a statement on the... - Social Welfare Rates
1876. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost for every €1 increase in the living alone allowance; and if he will make a statement on the... - Social Welfare Schemes
1878. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the projected cost of increasing the working family payment thresholds by €20 or €50; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Rates
1888. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of a €10 increase in the household benefits package for gas and electricity; and if he will make a... - Bereavement Counselling
1889. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration will be given to putting in place a support to subsidise the cost of bereavement counselling for those who... - Social Welfare Payments
1890. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average processing time for educational sector workers who apply for a jobseeker’s payment while temporarily laid... - Social Welfare Schemes
1891. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of jobseeker’s applications received from educational sector workers temporarily laid off during the... - Social Welfare Benefits
1893. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the new pay-related benefit for a person out of work (details supplied) does not account for dependants; the... - Social Welfare Rates
1895. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing the fuel allowance. [44325/25] - Social Welfare Schemes
1896. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to estimate the cost of expanding the fuel allowance to all people on a disability-related social protection payment; and of... - Community Employment Schemes
1899. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to improve the local community employment schemes in order to make them more attractive to engage social welfare... - Immigration Support Services
1900. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount paid out as part of the Ukrainian response for non-accommodation costs, including car repairs and other items,... - Child Poverty
1901. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update in respect of fulfilling the Government’s commitment to SDG1 (ending poverty, including child...
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