Written answers
Monday, 8 September 2025
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- Special Educational Needs
1321. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding employment services and specialist training supports for adults who are on the autism spectrum; if he... - Social Welfare Benefits
1322. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if it can be ensured that those in receipt of disability allowance and attached benefits (details supplied) are not... - Rural Schemes
1323. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the review of the rural social scheme, specifically in relation... - Social Welfare Schemes
1324. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether a full review is being carried out on the carer’s allowance payment by this Department; the current status of... - Social Welfare Benefits
1325. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total number or persons in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for more than 12 months; the number of those who have... - Weather Events
1326. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total number of claims made and paid out under the humanitarian assistance scheme for Storm Éowyn; the average... - Social Welfare Schemes
1327. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to consider waiving the means test on foster care families (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the... - Birth Certificates
1328. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide details of the criteria used to divulge birth certificates to the general public; and if he will make a... - Social Welfare Schemes
1330. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to consider revising the TÚS programme guidelines for people in receipt of disability allowance, to allow them to... - Social Welfare Benefits
1331. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a process will be considered where seasonal workers can apply for jobseeker’s benefit in advance of being laid off... - Pension Provisions
1332. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of instances where large multinational employers have historically implemented a pension vesting policy... - Social Welfare Schemes
1334. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of a case of an individual who has not been awarded the bereaved partner’s (contributory) pension and... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1335. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department has given consideration to removing the means test on jobseekers payment; and if he will make a statement... - Social Welfare Schemes
1336. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will address as a matter of priority and end the discrimination that currently exists in regard to the fuel allowance... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1341. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason widows who work full-time and are in receipt of a widow's pension and pay PRSI and all other taxes are not... - Social Welfare Schemes
1342. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a second carers allowance application for a person (details supplied) will be expedited; and if he will make a statement... - Flexible Work Practices
1344. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his views on the situation where a State funded organisation (details supplied) is not given the same flexibility in its... - Social Welfare Schemes
1345. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cost of increasing the PRSI threshold for employers in line with a minimum wage increase of €1.35; and if he will... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1347. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a carer's allowance application for a person (details supplied) will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the... - Social Welfare Schemes
1350. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his views on the disparity whereby from budget 2026 the flat rate maternity benefit of €289 per week will be lower... - Departmental Properties
1351. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide a list of all unused properties, lands and buildings, under the ownership or control of his Department within... - Social Welfare Schemes
1354. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an estimate of the cost of increasing the capital disregard for the jobseeker’s allowance means test from... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1357. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the decision to refuse the back-to-school allowance for a person (details supplied) will be reviewed. [45435/25] - Social Welfare Schemes
1358. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department will update the reference baskets used for means tests and payments to reflect higher grocery inflation... - Departmental Websites
1359. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department plans to have a webchat service link on his Department website for members of the public to enquire... - Social Welfare Schemes
1360. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the current processing times for disability allowance, carer's allowance and social welfare appeals; and if he will make a... - Departmental Staff
1362. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of whole time equivalent network cyber security ICT specialists at the grade of executive officer working within... - Departmental Funding
1363. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide financial assistance to pensioners (details supplied) that require home electrical oxygen, which... - Social Welfare Schemes
1364. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will clarity the entitlements of a widow to her husband’s accumulated contributions (details supplied); and if... - School Meals Programme
1365. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding the hot school meals programme; if schools, including a school (details supplied), will be considered... - State Pensions
1366. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will examine the interaction between personal insolvency arrangements and pension entitlements with a view to ensuring... - Money Advice and Budgeting Service
1367. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will expand the Money Advice and Budgeting Service to include a specialised support stream for over-50s, focusing on... - Departmental Strategies
1368. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details of measures being considered to address the emotional and mental health impacts of debt stress on older people... - Citizens Information Services
1369. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to the pay dispute raised by a service (details supplied); the actions he is taking to... - Social Welfare Schemes
1370. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether he will consider moving the payment of the back-to-school allowance to an earlier point in the school year (details... - School Meals Programme
1371. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a school (details supplied) will be given permission to go to tender for the hot school lunch programme for which it... - Social Welfare Rates
1372. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the first-year and full-year cost of increasing the maximum rate of the additional needs payment for additional diet... - Social Welfare Benefits
1373. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated first-year and full-year cost of two double monthly child benefit payments. [45874/25] - School Meals Programme
1374. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will clarify whether or not the hot school meals programme has been rolled out in every school across the country, if... - State Bodies
1375. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for his plans to increase pay for regional administrators in line with the increase received by local administrators of... - Social Welfare Eligibility
1376. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plan to allow JI participants to qualify for the fuel allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46031/25] - State Pensions
1380. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the pension entitlement of a person (details supplied). [46163/25] - Social Welfare Appeals
1381. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the breakdown of the number of oral hearings granted to clients from 2018 to 2025 in regard to social welfare payments; and... - Departmental Data
1382. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the breakdown of the age profile categories of clients being granted invalidity pension in the last number of years, broken... - Social Welfare Schemes
1383. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding the increase in income disregards for carer's allowance as committed to in the programme for... - Legislative Process
1384. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the timeframe for the enactment of legislation implementing the Supreme Court decision in a case (details supplied); whether... - Social Welfare Schemes
1385. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the first year and full year cost of increasing jobseeker’s transitional payment by €1. [46301/25] - Departmental Policies
1389. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his views on creating a statutory to recognise a child that does not conform to world health organisation stillbirth... - Departmental Expenditure
1390. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the total funding allocated to County Louth under this Department from 2023 to date, per year in... - State Pensions
1391. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to expedite an application (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46362/25] - Social Welfare Schemes
1392. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will review the structure of the State maternity benefit to consider moving to a pay-related model similar to... - Departmental Properties
1393. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide the details and addresses of all properties in the ownership of the Department that are absolved from paying... - School Meals Programme
1394. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she is aware of the fall-out of the new legislation surrounding the delivery of the school meals, whereby no member of... - Social Welfare Schemes
1395. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider amending the rules on carer’s allowance in order that a person who is in receipt of a State... - Social Welfare Benefits
1398. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if the universal over 70s companion pass will come into effect on 1 September 2025; if all persons over 70 years have now... - Social Welfare Schemes
1399. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the responsibility that is on his Department to ensure that citizens are appropriately educated and informed about the terms... - State Pensions
1400. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if further to the review of the non-contributory pension for a person (details supplied) a contributory pension can be... - Social Welfare Schemes
1401. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will review matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); if he will expedite the matter; and if he will make a... - Departmental Contracts
1403. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of contracts a firm (details supplied) have had with his Department in the years of 2024 and to-date in 2025; the... - Departmental Data
1404. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the percentage of applications for fuel allowance from persons over 70 years of age that were refused the fuel allowance in... - Social Welfare Schemes
1405. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports or schemes available to qualified post primary teachers who are currently unemployed, particularly in cases... - School Meals Programme
1406. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the urgent steps she is taking to ensure that no school loses out on their hot meals following changes to regulations which... - Departmental Data
1407. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of families and the the number of children that received the newborn baby grant, by county, in tabular form; and... - Social Welfare Schemes
1409. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection given the 1.8 per cent rise in inflation and its disproportionate impact on low-income families, if he will commit to... - Social Welfare Payments
1411. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 518 of 1 July 2025, if the full-year cost of increasing all headline weekly social... - State Pensions
1412. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether foster carers allowance can be used to qualify persons for a State pension (contributory); and if he will make a... - School Meals Programme
1413. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will ensure that the hot meals service is provided to all pupils in small primary schools throughout the country as a... - Social Welfare Schemes
1414. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on his plans to abolish the means test for carers; if there is a timeline for this; if considerations... - State Pensions
1415. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to urgently allow for payment of invalidity pension for person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the... - Social Welfare Benefits
1416. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason illness benefit for a five-week period ending on 23 July 2025 has been refused for an individual (details... - Departmental Data
1417. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will detail the number of homes that currently qualify for the fuel allowance, in tabular form, on a county by county... - School Meals Programme
1418. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the operation of the hot school meals programme; if unspent funding allocated for the provision of... - Social Welfare Payments
1419. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will address the delays in processing social welfare claims for Early Years Educators during the summer months; and if... - Tax Credits
1420. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is considering any changes to the current averaging system of Class S PRSI contributions towards the determination of... - School Meals Programme
1421. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the membership of and dates of meetings of the inter-departmental group on school meals. [47225/25] - Departmental Data
1424. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applicants in receipt of foster care allowance qualified for back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance;... - Capital Expenditure Programme
1426. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to parliamentary Question No. 1843 of 29 July 2025, if he will instruct the bodies under his aegis to provide the... - Social Welfare Payments
1428. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to introduce a cost of disability payment as recommended by the 2021 Government commissioned Indecon Report and in... - Social Welfare Schemes
1429. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to remove the means test for carer's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47439/25] - Departmental Communications
1431. 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... - Social Welfare Schemes
1433. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide an update on the work and access scheme; the number that are using it; his plans to increase this number... - Departmental Strategies
1435. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he has plans for his Department and Intreo staff to engage with employers and those with disabilities to facilitate a... - Social Welfare Schemes
1436. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he plans to improve processing times for those who do not have year-long contracts and must avail of social protection... - Departmental Data
1438. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of carers allowance applications received in Dublin Bay North in 2023 and 2024, and the number approved, in... - Social Welfare Benefits
1441. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of households in Dublin Bay North in receipt of the fuel allowance in 2023 and 2024, in tabular form; and if he... - Social Welfare Rates
1442. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of bringing all disability-related payments to €350 per week; and to provide details of...
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