1756. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will increase core social welfare rates by €16 per week as part of the Government’s target to reduce consistency rates to 2% nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41045/25]
1757. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will increase the index-link of the income disregard for the one-parent family payment and jobseeker’s transitional payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41046/25]
1758. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will increase the living alone allowance to ensure a targeted measure to support single adult households, in line with MESL research; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41048/25]
1759. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will work towards aligning the child support payment to the primary social welfare payment and increase the payment by €6 per week for children under 12 and €15 per week for children 12 and over; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41049/25]
1763. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will increase the roll-out of free hot school meals to all children and ensure ongoing evaluation of their nutritional content; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41205/25]
1764. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will ensure households are able to purchase the essential energy they need to stay warm and well, and raise the fuel allowance by €9.50 per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41208/25]
1765. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will fulfil the commitment in the programme for Government and extend the fuel allowance to recipients of the working family payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41209/25]
1766. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will introduce a weekly cost of disability payment of €55 to cover the additional costs facing people with a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41210/25]
1822. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if a detailed response will issue to a carer’s allowance case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42287/25]
1949. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will intervene and expedite a join family visa application in respect of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41172/25]
2159. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to expedite the overdue compensation payments for a person (details supplied) for loss of livestock due to TB infection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41333/25]
2214. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration will be given to initiating a new largescale afforestation programme to reduce our carbon footprint and provide much needed income to small farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43285/25]
2266. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will commit to providing ring-fenced funding to address the current and historic financial deficits experienced by voluntary disability service providers such as an organisation (details supplied). [40908/25]
2273. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if he will make childcare affordable by increasing the subsidy and threshold for the national childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41047/25]
2292. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will increase funding for the waiting list initiative to clear the waiting list and backlog for the assessment of need process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41188/25]
2296. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will allocate €10 million to establish local, publicly run early childhood, education and care services, beginning with areas and communities that are currently not served and experiencing high concentrations of disadvantage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41202/25]
2306. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the €200 monthly subsidy for families with children attending early years and school age care, as committed to in the Programme for Government, will be implemented in full; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41364/25]
2307. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware that Kerry has an early years staff turnover rate of 25%, above the national average; and the measures she intends to take to improve staff retention in the sector in rural counties like Kerry. [41365/25]
2308. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will consider aligning the pay and working conditions of early years and school age care graduates with those of primary school teachers; and if so, the timelines and mechanisms under review to achieve this. [41366/25]
2309. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the supports being provided to early childhood education providers in Kerry, to maintain a qualified and consistent workforce, in light of high turnover rates. [41367/25]
2310. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the role her Department has played in engaging with stakeholders (details supplied) in the lead-up to Budget 2026; and whether their recommendations on pay parity and staff retention are being considered. [41368/25]
2311. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if his Department has costed the proposal to align pay for early years and school age care professionals with that of primary school teachers; and if so, the estimated annual cost of same. [41369/25]
2312. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if additional resources will be allocated in Budget 2026 to support the staffing and sustainability of early years education services in rural counties such as Kerry. [41370/25]
2313. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if a targeted rural childcare investment strategy is being considered to address specific workforce retention and sustainability issues faced by providers in counties such as Kerry. [41371/25]
2314. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason children with autism spectrum disorder in County Kerry no longer receive the previously standard six-week block of speech and language therapy per year; and whether this level of support will be reinstated locally given the impact on early development. [41373/25]