John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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409. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a decision has been made on a request to further backdate a widower's contributory pension award to a person ( details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29263/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Social welfare legislation provides for backdating of claims for Bereaved Partner's Contributory Pension by six months from the date of receipt of the claim. Section 241 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005, as amended refers.

Backdating of a late claim beyond 6 months may be considered in circumstances where the failure to claim arose as a result of:

1) incorrect information being supplied by the Department, or

2) the claimant's incapacity by illness or infirmity to make a claim or have someone make a claim on their behalf.

The person concerned submitted their claim Bereaved Partner's Contributory Pension on 15/07/2025 following the death of their spouse in May 2024. Their claim was backdated six months to 17/01/2025, in line with the legislation.

Following receipt of a subsequent request to consider further backdating, accompanied by medical evidence, the person's entitlement was re-examined and has now been backdated to 31/05/2024. The person concerned has been notified of the decision by letter. Arrears will be lodged to the person's account on Friday 24/04/2026.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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410. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 1877 of 14 April 2026, his views on whether it is equitable that some people with medical diagnosis qualify for the diet supplement administered under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme but others in the same financial and medical circumstances do not; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29362/26]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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411. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding the total number of people that are in receipt of the diet supplement administered under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, broken down by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29363/26]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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412. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding the total number of people that are in receipt of the diet supplement administered under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, broken down by year since it was first introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29364/26]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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413. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the total cost to the exchequer of payments under the diet supplement administered under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, broken down by year since it was first introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29365/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 410, 411, 412 and 413 together.

The Diet Supplement, administered under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, is payable to qualifying persons, in receipt of the supplement prior to February 2014, who have been prescribed a special diet because of a specified medical condition.

As the Deputy is aware, a review of the costs of healthy eating and specialised diets by the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute was commissioned by my department during 2013. The research showed that the average costs across all the retail outlets of the diets supplemented under the scheme could be met from within one-third of the minimum personal rate of social welfare payment, i.e. the Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance rate, which was then paid at €186 per week, and is currently €252. Based on this evidence, the Diet Supplement scheme was discontinued for new applicants from 1 February 2014.

Those that were in receipt of the Diet Supplement prior to it’s closure in February 2014, continue to receive their existing rate of payment for as long as they continue to have an entitlement to the scheme or until their circumstances change. This measure ensured that nobody was immediately worse off by the closure of the scheme.

I understand the closure of the scheme means that everyone with the same medical circumstances can not avail of the Diet Supplement and that there will always be exceptional cases where people require support. It is for this reason that my department provides the means tested Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme. Any person who considers that they may have an entitlement to an Additional Needs Payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office. In addition, applications can be made online via mywelfare.ie.

There are currently 491 people in receipt of Diet Supplement with a breakdown by county provided at Table 1 below.

Table 2 provides a breakdown of the number of recipients at year end for 2009 to 2025.

The expenditure on Diet Supplement is provided for under the heading of “Other Supplements” which also include supplements such as travel, therefore the annual outturn amount for Diet Supplement is not available. However, provisional expenditure under the heading of “Other Supplements” for 2025 is €2.58 million.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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414. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether his Department has assessed the extent to which failures by employers to provide reasonable accommodation contribute to disabled workers leaving employment and subsequently relying on Illness Benefit, Disability Allowance or other income supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29484/26]

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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415. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated annual cost to the Exchequer where a disabled worker exits employment and moves onto Disability Allowance, Illness Benefit or related supports following workplace discrimination or failure to provide reasonable accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29485/26]

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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416. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether his Department has undertaken, or plans to undertake, any cost-benefit analysis of early workplace accommodation and retention of disabled workers compared with the medium- and long-term cost of social welfare dependency arising from accommodation failures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29486/26]

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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417. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether his Department has engaged with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality on the relationship between workplace accommodation failures, disability-related job loss and subsequent reliance on social protection payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29487/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 414, 415, 416 and 417 together.

Supporting disabled people is a priority for the Government and a whole of Government responsibility. The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 reflects this. Its implementation is co-ordinated by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.

The Strategy adopts a whole-of-Government approach with individual Government departments and state agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit across five key pillars.

Employment is one of these pillars, and it is jointly led by me, and the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, focused on improving access to the workplace for disabled people. Other departments also have responsibilities under this pillar. We have already made progress on many of the commitments in the Strategy and we will continue to make progress over its lifetime.

We know the benefits of early workplace accommodation and the risks of failing to provide these accommodations. This is why we reviewed the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and the Disability Awareness Support Scheme and developed Work and Access to replace them and expand on the supports available. Work and Access offers seven supports to help make workplaces more accessible to disabled people. The scheme was designed to prevent workplace accommodation failures and to help disabled people access or retain their employment. The supports comprise workplace needs assessments, in-work support, communication support, personal readers, work equipment, workplace adaptation, and disability equality and inclusion training.

Work and Access is open to employers, the self-employed and to employees. It is available for both the business and remote premises. My Department is committed to supporting employers and employees to prevent disabled workers being forced to exit employment due to a lack of reasonable accommodation.

Employers can also avail of the Wage Subsidy Scheme. It provides a subsidy of between €7.50 and €10 per hour to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people where the tasks or role has to be adapted. Eligibility criteria have been expanded in recent years, including to employees who have degenerative conditions or who acquire a disability while in employment.

These supports are designed to support disabled people in taking up or remaining in employment.

It is very important that disabled people and employers are aware of the range of supports available. We have run promotion campaigns in recent years to inform both disabled people and employers of the schemes and supports available. We are currently developing a new information campaign in association with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.

All my Department’s illness and disability schemes have eligibility criteria. The common factor is the impact of the person's illness or disability on their ability to work. However, my Department has no information in relation to the number of disabled people who cannot remain in employment due a lack of reasonable accommodations in their workplace. As such, it is not possible to estimate the numbers of people who may receive a social welfare payment as a result.

My Department does not plan to undertake a cost-benefit analysis. The provision of reasonable accommodation is essential, particularly early accommodations. My Department does not view it as a trade-off with long-term dependency on social welfare payments. Reasonable accommodation should be supported wherever possible to allow the disabled person to participate fully in work.

I want to stress that the Government is committed to improving the employment position of disabled people and we will continue to make progress in that regard.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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418. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware of an issue (details supplied); if he will request his officials to investigate the matter as one of urgency given the material change in circumstances and the terminal condition of the person being cared for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29501/26]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care.

An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 21 October 2025.

It is a necessary condition for receipt of CA that the carer must be providing full-time care and attention to the care recipient. This is defined as requiring from another person, continual supervision, and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continual supervision to avoid danger to him or herself and likely to require that level of care for at least twelve months. The time spent providing care each week must not be less than 35 hours per week over 5-7 days.

The application was examined, and the Deciding Officer decided that the above condition was not satisfied. Although a certain level of care was provided, the evidence submitted did not satisfy the full-time care and attention requirement as defined in the legislation.

The person concerned was notified of this decision via My Welfare on 28 November 2025. They were also notified of their right to have the decision reviewed (where further information is available) or to appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO).

A request to appeal this decision was lodged with the Department and forwarded to the SWAO on 07 January 2026. The appeal was disallowed, and the original decision was upheld. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 20 February 2026.

A request to review the Appeal Officer's decision was not accepted by the SWAO because no new facts or evidence relevant to the date of the claim was provided. The appeal officer’s decision is final and can only be reviewed in light of new evidence or facts not previously considered. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 31 March 2026.

It is open to the person concerned to re-apply for CA by completing a new CR1 application form. For the convenience of the person concerned, an application form has been forwarded by post to their home address.