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653. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the cost of removing the 18.5-hour ceiling rule for the carer’s allowance for those who wish to undertake training or education and whose child is in school for more than 18.5-hours. [39265/25]

662. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if the case of carers allowance payments for a person (details supplied) will be reviewed. [39576/25]

348. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health the implications the new means rate for carer’s allowance will have on medical card; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38458/25]

58. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth if consideration will be given to supporting the upskilling of parents and carers to fill the capacity gap for special needs assistants whilst ensuring that their carer's allowance is not affected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38107/25]

103. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Social Protection to outline his plans to increase further the income disregards for the carer’s allowance and ultimately abolish the means test for the payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38014/25]

561. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on the status of a review for carer’s allowance for a person (details provided); and when it is expected that a decision will be reached on the application. [37217/25]

566. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection when it is expected a decision will issue on a carer's allowance appeal (details supplied). [37359/25]

567. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection when it is expected a decision will issue on a carer's allowance appeal (details supplied). [37361/25]

275. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a full-time carer in receipt of carer’s allowance is only entitled to a maximum of three weeks leave over a 12-month period; if he will consider increasing the maximum leave entitlement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36725/25]

277. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Social Protection if a decision has been made on the review of a decision on a carer’s allowance application by a person in County Kerry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36838/25]

278. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if persons in receipt of carer’s allowance have to be reassessed when the new changes are introduced, including persons who were recently reassessed (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36839/25]

279. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if the amount of savings allowed for persons in receipt of carer’s allowance will be increased when the new changes are introduced (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36840/25]

102. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will instruct local authorities to end the practice of including carer’s allowance as income in the differential rent scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35792/25]

516. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason a person (details supplied) was denied carer’s allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35593/25]

523. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated full-year cost of abolishing the means test for carer’s allowance and providing access to all who meet the other criteria for it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35643/25]

571. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason carers allowance or benefit cannot be awarded to a family member living in a different county to help towards the cost of private care being paid for an individual who needs 24-hour care (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33883/25]

89. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection whether his Department will conduct a review of the delays relating to the awarding of disability and carer’s allowance, particularly in light of delays of up to five months that have occurred in County Laois; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33295/25]

90. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Social Protection for an update on plans to abolish the means test for the carer’s allowance, given the strong support for this in the programme for Government; to confirm if it will be included in budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32829/25]

98. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on plans to abolish the carers allowance means test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32278/25]

119. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he expects the Programme for Government pledge to remove the means test requirement for qualification for a carers allowance payment to be introduced in Budget 2026, or to be phased out incrementally over several years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32785/25]

120. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the plans to review the carer’s allowance as it applies to pensioners who unfairly only qualify for half carers due to that fact that they are already in receipt of another social welfare payment. [31583/25]

127. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection to outline his plans to abolish the means testing for carer's allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32977/25]

132. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Social Protection when the carer's allowance weekly income disregard will increase from €450 to €625 for a single person, and from €900 to €1,250 for carers with a spouse-partner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32903/25]

145. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the total number of people who have had the carer’s allowance removed from them in each of the past ten years, and to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32429/25]

146. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will give a timeline for implementing the Programme for Government commitment to phase out means testing for the carers’ allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33185/25]

That is a very sensible proposal and those who care depend on heat and very high energy usage in terms of washing machines, tumble dryers, electrical equipment, beds, etc. I will look at that and see what the reason is. We introduced carers as a qualifying payment for fuel allowance a number of years ago. We will do some work to make sure those who are supposed to get it are getting it. As I said…

I move the following Revised Estimates: Vote 25 — Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised Estimate). That a sum not exceeding €9,709,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2025, for the salaries and expenses of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and for payment of certain grants. Vote 4…

People I represent are handing back groceries at the till when they get there because they do not have the money to pay for them all. Where is the dignity in that? They are afraid to put on the radio in case they are told about another expected hike next month in their electricity or gas bills. It is frankly hard to accept the claim that the Government is all about targeting when the social protec…

I offer Deputy Whitmore that chance again. Tell me which one-off payment in the social welfare code last year she is against and that the Social Democrats do not want. Was it the child benefit payment? Was it the carer's payment? Was it the fuel allowance? Just let us know because the Social Democrats would not last year. They were happy to vote in favour of them all and their offices were happy t…

Let us have a little bit of decorum in how we speak in this House. The Deputy has spoken for three minutes. I am just looking to reply. The Minister, Helen McEntee, has done more than any Minister in the history of our State in terms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence with a zero-tolerance strategy. I am very proud of the work of this Government around the issue. We have a lot more to …

Deputy John Connolly was the first to ask a question. The schools therapy programme is working well. On the issue of the single point of access, the HSE has embarked on the idea of a one-door approach. The outgoing CEO, Bernard Gloster, was very focused on this. All last year at the Cabinet subcommittee on disability, he gave a very clear undertaking on behalf of the HSE that there would be a sing…

Disability issues and disability services are an absolute priority for this Government. That is why one of the things the Deputy will have seen published in the past number of months was the new national human rights strategy for disabled people, which is a really good piece of work. A huge amount of work was done with representative groups and with people with disabilities directly. It is a Gover…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — the conflict in the Middle East has, once again, exposed the vulnerability of the Irish economy, and Irish society more generally, to imported fossil fuels; — these strategic dependencies have major macroeconomic implications, and the risks to macroeconomic and fiscal stability cannot …

The Minister, Deputy Foley, will lead, with the support of the unit in my office, but she will also report to the Cabinet subcommittee, which will then make recommendations to the Cabinet. That is how this will work. The Cabinet subcommittee is very important because all the key Ministers have to be there. I agree with Deputy Cian O'Callaghan that the unemployment levels among the disability comm…

I am glad Charlie McConalogue is here in the Chamber because he is the man I want to talk to. Today across the country, particularly in Donegal, we have got a budget that is an absolute insult to working people - a nothing budget for people. What kind of message does it send out to working people when we have given them absolutely nothing? There are no measures to prevent homelessness in this budg…

I did a fair bit of it in your own constituency. It was good to be in Donegal. The Deputy persists in trying to misrepresent the budget. Week in week out, he comes in here and says that €9.4 billion more is being spent etc. and then he tries to pivot to suggest it is all being spent in a certain direction. He ignores the fact and does not tell people at home that the bulk of that money went to inc…

I commend Deputy Byrne on the work he has been doing as Minister of State with responsibility for foreign affairs and, in particular, European affairs. There are two areas that I would like to cover following the European Council meeting: Ukraine and the Middle East. It is critical that Ukraine remains at the forefront of our minds and that we continue to call out the illegal aggression of Russia…

Earlier this week, my party leader, Deputy Cairns, asked a very simple question. In what other profession in this country are people subjected to a means test, just to be recognised for the work they do? It is a stark question that gets to the heart of the matter. That is what this is about. Carers are professionals in every sense of the word. They do the work that is essential to the running of o…

We have no ring-fenced funding for our early years educators and school-age practitioners at a time when the staff turnover rate in some counties is upwards of 50%. We have 50% of early years educators in some counties leaving the sector, yet we have no ring-fenced funding for an additional pay increase next year. They are still waiting on the pay increase that was announced in June. We are almost…

I assure the Deputy that we absolutely value the work of carers. That has been shown by the work done on the income disregards, which will take effect this July, in recent years and the introduction of the long-term carer's contribution scheme in January 2024. Under that scheme, a person who has been a full-time carer for an incapacitated dependent for at least 20 years, or 1,040 weeks, can get lo…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — in September, the Government accepted and published the new Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025, which was negotiated by the Department of Health; — the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025 explicitly excluded reimbursement for monitored dosage systems (MDS), which had previously been reimbursed through the phased dispensing reimbursement mechanism, a practi…

I assure the Deputy that we are working on the plan and on what will be involved, not only financially but also in other ways, in the context of abolishing the means test, and we will continue to do so. I also highlight that a great deal of work has been done to support long-term carers. The long-term carer's contribution scheme ensures that people who have been full-time carers for at least 20 y…

In fairness, the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025 is a substantial piece of work. It needs to be because it is the first real reform of our child protection laws in more than 30 years. It comes after a very long and well-documented history of systemic failures, inconsistent practice and persistent gaps in co-ordination between the agencies, especially within Tusla's work. For example, we have had …

I will conclude by again acknowledging the seriousness of the issues raised in this motion and the genuine concerns that motivate it. I have not heard all of the contributions but those that I have heard have been considered and informed. A number of issues were raised and I promise that those I have heard will be brought to the attention of the Minister. I cannot be sure of responses but I can gu…

I thank Deputy Wall and the Labour Party for bringing forward this important motion. I also commend Family Carers Ireland and all the young carers who have brought this issue to our attention. We fully support the motion. I know the Government is not opposing it but I hope it will do more than just not oppose it and that it will take seriously this motion, which I assume was drawn up in consultati…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Farrelly for tabling this. I am in full support of it. One of the main reasons is taxation without representation. If we are not going to give young people the chance to vote, are we going to make them exempt from taxes at the age of 15, 16 or 17? When I started work, I was on €6.06 an hour at the age of 15, but I was not able to vote until the age of 21. The thing…

I have been very clear that we do not rule out the need to make further energy interventions. An energy crisis in the months of April and May will be very different from an energy crisis in the months of October, November and December. We have to prepare for that period too. The fuel allowance is being provided to 470,000 households. I do not know the circumstances of the pensioner's home the Depu…

I welcome the Minister's comments and the commitment to the effect that he and the Minister for children, Deputy Foley, will continue to look at and develop this area. To come at it from the children's perspective, the CSO analysis of children who come through foster care shows they have higher rates of absenteeism from school, leave school earlier and their educational achievement generally is lo…

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion and the carers who are doing the work, day in and day out. For nearly 20 years I worked as a family support worker. In the course of that time, I came across many young people who were carers for one or both of their parents. We tried to give them as much support as we could but it was never enough because while we could finish our day, the…

We are discussing funding for carers and I want to talk about one funding source, namely, the domiciliary care allowance. The domiciliary care allowance is payable in respect of a child under the age of 16 who has severe disability requiring continual care and attention. Over the past number of years I have noticed a pattern of people contacting me and coming to my office with the same problem wit…