Written answers
Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
- Departmental Contracts
720. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to confirm the project's public spending code stage gates and sanctioning approvals, including any value-for-money... - Social Insurance
721. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing weakly income threshold from €527 to €735 class employer PRSI threshold for... - Employment Data
722. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide an update on the work being carried out to resolve the problem of bogus self-employment in the building... - Public Procurement Contracts
723. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide the web links to his Department’s Q1 2025 and Q2 2025 published reports of procurement-related payments or... - Industrial Disputes
725. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports being made available to school workers who are directly affected by the current strikes that is, bus escorts,... - Departmental Schemes
729. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to an issue concerning the wage subsidy scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a... - Special Educational Needs
730. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of schools under contract to a supplier (details supplied) under the hot school meals programme; the number of... - Budget 2026
731. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether current employment in the fashion, textile, and clothing retail sectors making PRSI contributions has been quantified... - Social Welfare Code
732. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will update the operational guidance for the additional needs payment to explicitly include emergency veterinary... - Social Welfare Eligibility
733. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of disability allowance applications refused in the past five years for people with chronic conditions that... - Social Welfare Payments
734. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of social welfare claims currently awaiting a decision, in each scheme in Longford and Westmeath; and the average... - School Meals Programme
735. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the steps he is taking to ensure schools affected by companies pulling out of contracts due to procurement criteria in the... - Social Welfare Code
736. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the supports available to a household facing high electricity bills due to essential medical equipment; and if he will make a... - School Meals Programme
737. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way in which food waste is monitored in the hot school meals scheme; the latest data in relation to same; and if he will... - Social Welfare Code
738. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if teachers who take a career break to work abroad, and whose contracts will not resume until September, are entitled to... - Health Services
739. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection where an individual with special dietary requirements will get financial assistance with ongoing weekly expenses associated... - Social Welfare Rates
740. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions he plans to take in order to address concerns that social welfare payments are not moving in tandem with the... - Departmental Staff
741. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of WTE qualified legal advisors working in his Department in 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form. [48211/25] - Social Welfare Rates
742. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding any Departmental review of the existing rate of payment under the living alone allowance to reflect... - School Meals Programme
744. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason Youthreach services are excluded from qualifying for the school meals grant. [48316/25] - Child Poverty
745. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he accepts the ESRI’s finding that one in five Irish children are living in poverty once housing costs are... - Social Welfare Payments
748. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of recipients of the living alone increase; if the rate of payment has been reviewed to reflect the rising costs... - Departmental Policies
749. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department has undertaken analysis on the way in which the projected doubling of the older population over the next 25... - Departmental Consultations
750. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department is collaborating with the HSE and voluntary organisations such as an organisation (details supplied) in... - Departmental Policies
751. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department has considered targeted supports for carers of older people, in recognition that early intervention and... - Budget 2026
752. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection given the shift toward permanent, targeted measures in Budget 2026, the provisions that will be specifically allocated to... - Child Poverty
754. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way in which current child poverty reduction targets are being aligned with housing-adjusted poverty measures; and the... - Departmental Policies
755. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if additional supports, such as an enhanced qualified child allowance, targeted housing subsidies, or expanded childcare... - Child Poverty
756. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the indicators and timelines being used to measure progress against the reduction of housing-cost-adjusted child poverty... - Social Welfare Payments
757. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person (details supplied) will have their supplementary dietary allowance reinstated. [48533/25] - Irish Sign Language
758. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of registered ISL interpreters currently available in each county. [48537/25] - Departmental Contracts
762. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to confirm the data-hosting location(s) for My Future Fund; if all personal data will remain within the EEA; the list of... - Cybersecurity Policy
768. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the cybersecurity standards required of the contractor for example, ISO 27001, SOC 2, the cadence of independent security... - School Meals Programme
770. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether a primary school can refuse the hot school meals programme against the wish of parents. [48601/25] - Social Welfare Payments
771. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number and percentage of applications for disability allowance that were refused in each month for the first eight months... - Social Welfare Schemes
772. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to examine the case for travel cost assistance for the parents of child (details supplied) who attends a school for the... - Social Welfare Appeals
773. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the average wait time for a decision on an appeal for each social welfare payment, in tabular form. [48654/25] - Statutory Instruments
774. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide a list of all Statutory Instruments signed by him in 2024 and to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on... - Social Welfare Eligibility
775. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the social welfare entitlements of a person (details supplied). [48688/25] - School Meals Programme
776. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to ensure students in small schools have access to hot school meals as a result of their provider ceasing the... - Social Welfare Payments
785. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider equalising jobseeker’s payments for persons under 25 with those over 25, in light of recent... - Social Welfare Appeals
786. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason social welfare appeal decisions are taking up to 18 months in some cases; the number of applicants currently... - Social Welfare Payments
792. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider increasing the fuel allowance for single people, as many are finding it increasingly difficult to heat... - Social Welfare Schemes
793. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware that rent supplement is only available to those who work under 30-hours-per-week; and if he plans to expand... - Departmental Policies
795. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if measures will be introduced to expand employment opportunities for deaf and disabled individuals (details supplied); and... - Departmental Funding
796. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if funding and supports will be allocated to organisations such as a charity (details supplied), which is the largest... - Departmental Policies
797. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the Programme for Government commitment to “continue to significantly increase the income disregards for... - Social Welfare Payments
798. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the justification for only allowing persons to qualify for half-rate carer’s allowance in instances where they are in...
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