Written answers
Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Programme for Government
Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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381. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress made over the past 12 months on each of his Department’s Programme for Government commitments, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67816/25]
Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has made significant progress on the Programme for Government commitments under its remit. Due to the large number of commitments however, it is not possible to include all of these in this response, so they will be provided to the Deputy electronically and in tabular format as requested. Updates on a range of commitments are set out in the table below:
| Set an ambitious child poverty target ensuring a focus on inequality. | This commitment has been delivered. A new Child Poverty Target was approved by Government and announced in September 2025. |
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| Continue to expand and improve the Free Hot School Meals programme and ensure that suppliers adhere to robust guidelines on the nutritional value of meals, the dietary requirements of students, reduce food waste and utilise recyclable packaging. | Processing of applications ongoing; work underway on options for smaller schools, including the involvement of local groups, meals on wheels etc. A Dietician is being funded by the Department of Social Protection. This Dietitian who is supervised by the Department of Health and in coordination with the Interdepartmental Group on School Meals will carry out a review of the Nutritional Standards for School meals, and examine supplier menus etc. A report will be prepared for the Minister by the end of the year. The issue of waste and recycling has been written into the new Call for Tender and other procurement templates. |
| The Government will protect core welfare rates while ensuring that available resources are targeted at vulnerable groups who are unable to work such as carers, people with disabilities and pensioners. | Core welfare rates were protected in Budget 2026, with an above inflation increase of €10 per week in the maximum weekly personal rates of payment. Additional supports were provided such as the largest ever increase in the Child Support Payment, the largest ever increase in the income disregard for Carer’s Allowance, and increases in the weekly rate of Fuel Allowance, Working Family Payment and Domiciliary Care Allowance, among others. |
| Safeguard the sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund by fully implementing the PRSI Roadmap 2024 – 2028. | The increases agreed as per the PRSI roadmap from 2024 to 2028 were legislated for in the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 which was enacted in July 2024. The first increase of 0.1% across all PRSI rates became effective from 1 October 2024. The second increase of 0.1% on all rates became effective from 1 October 2025. |
| Progressively increase weekly pension payments. | Budget 2026 provided for a €10 increase in the maximum weekly personal rates of payment across pension schemes. |
| Examine improvements to key ancillary benefits such as the Fuel Allowance, Household Benefits Package and Living Alone Allowance to support vulnerable groups. | Budget 2026 provided for a number of improvements to the Fuel Allowance scheme. This included: |
| Continue to significantly increase the income disregards for Carer’s Allowance in each Budget with a view to phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the Government. | Budget 2026 provides for the largest ever increase in the carer’s allowance income disregards – an increase of €375 per week to €1,000 for single people, and an increase of €750 per week to €2,000 for a couple. This means that a carer in a two-adult household with an income of over €100,000 will retain their full Carer’s Allowance payment. The latest changes are evidence of the Government’s determination to deliver on its commitment to eliminate the means test over the life-time of its term, and will do so in a progressive manner as part of the annual Budget process. |
| Introduce a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment. | Due to the cross-departmental nature of the cost of disability, 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. The recently published National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025 – 2030 takes a whole of Government approach and includes a commitment to establish a Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability. This will be led by the Department of Social Protection but will involve all relevant Departments and Agencies. The work of this network, which will include people with disabilities and their advocates, will inform the approach to be taken in delivering on this commitment. I have asked my officials to expedite this work with a view to bringing a proposal to Government in the first half of the year. |
| Progressively increase weekly Disability Payments and the Domiciliary Care Allowance. | As part of Budget 2026 measures announced: |
| Review the minimum hours requirement under the Wage Subsidy Scheme for people with disabilities and examine an increase to the payment rate. | As a result of reviewing the subsidy rate, Budget 2026 provides that from April 2026: • The two lower rates of €6.30 and €6.93 are being combined into one rate and increased to €7.50; • The two middle rates of €7.56 and €8.19 are being combined and increased to €8.50; and • The two higher rates of €8.72 and €9.45 are being combined and increased to €10. |
| Promote training initiatives to raise awareness and understanding of disabilities amongst Intreo staff. | Intreo Employment Services provide Disability Awareness training to staff to support their engagement with people with disabilities. The IMS Training and Change Management Team provide training and support on how to engage with DSP customers with disabilities through our Customer Service Courses. The trainers also highlight various training courses for staff to attend that assist with dealing with customers with disabilities e.g. National Disability Authority Training, JAM training, Be Disability Aware. |
| Examine the eligibility criteria for the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance. | Eligibility for the BSCFA was extended to children for whom Foster Care Allowance is being paid from June 2025. As part of Budget 2026 measures, Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance extended to eligible children aged 2 and 3. |
| Set a new child poverty target and examine ways to lift more children out of child poverty. | New Child Poverty Target approved by Government and announced in September 2025. The successor to the Roadmap for Social Inclusion is being developed. Budget 2026 provides for a package of measures to tackle child poverty and to support families. The package includes: • the largest Child Support Payment increase in the history of the State, • increase in the Working Family Payment thresholds of €60 per week, for all family sizes, • families receiving the Working Family Payment will qualify for the Fuel Allowance for the first time • expansion of the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance to 2 and 3 year olds for eligible recipients, • extension of the Back to Work Family Dividend for people in receipt of Disability Allowance and Blind Pension; and • increase of €20 per month in the Domiciliary Care Allowance. |
| Explore a targeted Child Benefit Payment and examine the interaction this would have with existing targeted supports to reduce Child Poverty such as the Working Family Payment and Child Support Payment. | This work is being progressed, having regard to the available body of evidence, including the work undertaken previously by the ESRI, the National Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on Taxation and Welfare. |
| Expand the eligibility for the Fuel Allowance to families in receipt of the Working Family Payment. | This commitment has been delivered as part of Budget 2026 - families receiving the Working Family Payment will qualify for the Fuel Allowance. |
| Increase core welfare payments, ensuring that resources are also targeted at people who are unable to work. | Budget 2026 provided for a €10 increase in the maximum weekly rates of core welfare payments. |
| Progressively increase the Child Support Payment | The DSP 2026 Budget package included the largest Child Support Payment increase in the history of the State, with a weekly increase of €16 to €78 for children aged 12 and over (a 26% increase), and a weekly increase of €8 to €58 for children under 12 (a 16% increase). This brings the total annual value of the Child Support Payment to €3,016 for each child under 12 and €4,056 for each child 12 and over. |
| Enhance supports for lone parents. | The Department of Social Protection has engaged with stakeholders such as the National One Parent Family Alliance to identify opportunities for enhancing supports to lone parents. Budget 2026 provides for a €10 increase in the weekly rate of one-parent family payment, and a €60 increase in the thresholds of the Working Family Payment for all family sizes. |
| Enact legislation to give entitlement to unmarried cohabitants to a Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory Pension. | This commitment has been delivered. The Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2025 was enacted on 21 July 2025. The provisions of the Act commenced from that date. |
| Complete the roll-out of Hot School Meals to all Primary Schools in 2025. | All primary schools are eligible for the Free Hot School Meals Programme from September 2025. All the procurement templates provided by the Department of Education Schools Procurement Unit were revised by the Department of Education in consultation with the Interdepartmental working group for the Schools Meals Programme and were published on 15 August 2025. New schools joining the programme can avail of the cold lunch option until procurement for Hot Schools Meals has been completed. |
| Ensure that suppliers adhere to robust guidelines on the nutritional value of meals, the dietary requirements of students, reduce food waste and utilise recyclable packaging. | The nutritional value of school meals, dietary requirements of students etc. will be examined by the Dietitian for the School Meals Programme. Food waste and recycle packaging requirements have been built into the new procurement documentation. |
| Implement the Summer 2025 Holiday Meals pilot project and evaluate this initiative aimed at closing the nutritional gap during school closures. | As part of the 2025 Budget €1.3 million was allocated for a Holiday Hunger pilot project to support some 68,000 of our most vulnerable children with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage. Applications were received from 914 schools. A draft evaluation is being finalised by the D/Education. |
| Introduce Pay Related Benefit in March 2025 linking unemployment payments to previous earnings for those who have contributed to the Social Insurance Fund and who lose their jobs. | This commitment has been delivered. Pay Related Benefit (PRB) for jobseekers launched on 31 March 2025. |
| Introduce the Auto Enrolment My Future Fund in September 2025 to provide workers with greater comfort and security regarding their retirement savings | On 29 April 2025 the Minister for Social Protection announced that the collection of contributions for the Automatic Enrolment retirement savings system called My Future Fund will begin from 1st January 2026. |
| Publish a new Employment Strategy focused on intensive engagement and supports to help those most distant from the labour market into the workforce. | A public consultation was launched with a closing date of end September 2025. 5 Regional Consultation Workshops are being held in Autumn 2025, with the aim to publish the revised Pathways to Work Strategy in mid-2026. |
| Increase the number of recruitment fairs and job matching services connecting employers with jobseekers. | A total of 612 events have been organised by Employer Relations from January to October 2025, compared to 536 for the same period in 2024. To date in 2025, over 92k jobseekers have met with over 1,895 employers at these events. A total of 1,962 job matching services were carried out by Employer Relations from January to October 2025, compared to 2,070 in the same period in 2024. |
| Enhance application processes within the Department of Social Protection and provide additional resources where necessary to ensure that individuals receive decisions on their applications in a timely manner. | Additional Appeals Officers assigned to the Social Welfare Appeals Office in response to increased applications received in 2024 and to deal with the associated backlog increase. Further improvements delivered through the Appeals Modernisation project including enhancements to my MyWelfare which facilitate an appellant to easily submit and track their appeal and receive their decision as soon as it is available. New Appeals Regulations implemented across the Department from 28th of April 2025 which aim to provide greater transparency, streamline processes and improve processing times. |
| Provide increased flexibility to local Community Employment (CE), TÚS, and Rural Social Schemes to retain participants for longer when it benefits both the individual and the community. | The Department has in place increased flexibility to enable participants to remain within their work programme through the provision of temporary extensions. A work programmes participation may be extended where the participant is in continued training/education in the case of CE, or where there is no replacement to fulfil specific community needs. The Department also introduced Rural Social Scheme Review measures to offer 3-year contracts to RSS participants, while those who are 60 years or over may remain on the scheme, provided they maintain eligibility to a qualifying payment, until they reach 66. |
| In particular, work to ensure there is some discretion at local level so that vulnerable individuals who have little prospect of entering paid employment are not forced off CE schemes when their three-year term expires. | The Department introduced increased flexibility to enable CE participants remain within their work programme through the provision of temporary extensions. CE participation may be extended where the participant is in continued training/education in the case of CE, or where there is no replacement to fulfil specific community needs. |
| Increase the top-up payment for participants on CE, TÚS, and the Rural Social Scheme in recognition of the important work they do in local communities. | As part of Budget 2026 measures, a €5 increase in the top up for Community Employment, Tús and Rural Social Scheme participants (from €27.50 to €32.50 per week) was included. Participants will also benefit from the €10 increase in the maximum weekly personal rates of payment, and the increases in the child support payment, where applicable. |
| Continue to support and increase the places on successful local programmes such as CE, TÚS and the Rural Social Scheme which do vital work in local communities. | There were 19,564 participants on CE and 4,503 on Tús at the end of October. Overall, the number on schemes has risen by around 250 over the past year. Currently there are 68 qualified adults and 269 credit only customers on CE. Tús continues to be actively promoted to 18-year-old customers who have a low probability of exit from the LR. |
| Deliver social welfare payments, such as Jobseeker's Allowance, through post offices, and examine what other services could be provided through the network. | Throughout 2025, the DSP continued to deliver cash payments to welfare recipients via An Post. An Post also provide a budgeting service to DSP customers through the network and the Department continue to engage with An Post to explore other possible services which could be undertaken by the Post Office Network. |
| Ensure every government department Statement of Strategy includes Climate Action and decarbonisation as a key priority. | This commitment has been delivered. The DSP Statement of Strategy 2025-2028 includes: ‘Supporting a whole-of Government approach to climate action and decarbonisation. One of our aims over the lifetime of this SoS is to reduce the Department’s carbon footprint and energy utilization (per person/per sq meter)’. |
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