Dara Calleary

I thank the Deputy. I confirm that we are monitoring all AI developments very closely. We are doing so in the context of developing the successor strategy to Pathways to Work. That strategy will include priorities for younger people. We expect it will be published in quarter 2 of this year. We have made some changes. I particularly draw the attention of the Deputy to the changes in Tús. The Tús w…

I will certainly provide that information to the Deputy. The range of supports that Intreo advisers use includes Springboard+ and identifying Springboard+ opportunities. It provides free and sometimes heavily subsidised education for in-demand skill areas. We can match courses to people's skills and abilities. SOLAS continues to provide focused training programmes. There is also the work placemen…

I thank the Deputy. The Government recognises the additional costs that are associated with having a disability. We are committed to improving outcomes for disabled people. The programme for Government includes a range of commitments to support disabled people, which includes a commitment to introduce an annual cost-of-disability support payment. In addition, under the National Human Rights Strate…

First, those remarks were not aimed at people with disabilities. They were aimed at political parties that are trying to weaponise the issue.

Supports are available but we want to do a lot more on this. That is why we are putting a huge amount of work into a permanent payment. The cost-of-disability summit in May will produce a briefing paper. I intend to bring that to the Government as part of the budget 2027 negotiations. We are only at the end of February and the budget negotiations are not yet under way. This issue will be my priori…

As I said, we are focused on a permanent payment, not a temporary payment from budget to budget. We are focused on getting the design right and on involving as many voices as possible to ensure we consider as many ideas as possible in order to get it right. We had very good and constructive discussions about this with the disabled persons' organisations yesterday. We want to ensure the summit in M…

Age-related rates apply to persons aged between 18 and 24 in receipt of a jobseeker's payment. However, young jobseekers can receive the full adult payment if they participate in training and employment programmes. This is the correct approach, which will help to minimise the scarring effects that extended periods of activity can sometimes have on the long-term prospects and well-being of young pe…

I assure the Deputy I do not want to give off any suggestion of the person she mentioned. We want young people to remain connected to the labour market, to avail of the employment and training opportunities and, more importantly, to avail of opportunities that are suited to their skills and interests as opposed to going through generic schemes. We went through the options earlier, including Spring…

I agree. We want to avoid people, particularly at a young age, falling into that poverty trap. We want to keep them connected to the labour market, which we all agree is changing rapidly. That is why extra payments are given to those in training and on work experience. As I said, we are working on a new Pathways to Work strategy. We have had over 430 submissions. We had five stakeholder forum eve…

I thank the Deputy. She was going to send me some details in relation to the case yesterday because I want to make sure that situation does not arise again. The lead role in relation to the engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities or energy providers in relation to pay-as-you-go meters is a matter for the Department of climate. While we have no function in this space, it is an a…

In relation to getting access to supports, I certainly want to work with the Deputy on that, particularly for the pay-as-you-go meters. I would be concerned about the rates that are charged on those meters. I will engage again with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on this. We increased the fuel allowance by €5 from the 1 January this year. That is a weekly payment of €38 for 28 weeks, w…

I agree. I am happy to have an engagement with the CRU but, obviously, it is not statutorily responsible. We could have an engagement in the context that I do not have any role but I do think this is an important issue. There needs to be some sort of understanding of the pressure families and homeowners are under with these pay-as-you-go meters. There can be situations of what the Deputy calls mic…

I thank Deputy Roche for his question. My Department provides a range of income supports for those who are unable to work due to illness or disability, including those with rare diseases. These include non-contributory payments that are based on a needs test, such as disability allowance, but also contributory payments that are based on PRSI contributions, such as invalidity pension. Eligibility f…

I am happy to engage with the Deputy and the rare diseases group around those issues and the proposals the group may have in relation to the systems within the Department. As I said in my response, we provide a range of supports for people who are unable to work due to illness or disability, and that includes people with rare diseases. Eligibility is not dependent on the type of rare disease but o…

Absolutely. We want to try to have a Department that helps people who have to manoeuvre through these conditions. One of my frustrations in public life is the way we silo people. That day needs to go in terms of the Department of Health doing one job, the Department of Social Protection doing another and the Department of disability doing another. That is why we are taking a whole-of-government ap…

I thank the Deputy. I have to say that when I was appointed Minister for Social Protection, I did not think a lot of my time would be spent on school meals. It is one of the most popular programmes and most debated in the House. That is a good thing and we want to get it right. In 2019, there were 37 schools and 6,600 children who were eligible for hot school meals. Today, all 3,200 primary schoo…

The dietician has been working since September and she has completed an in-depth review of school meal supplier menus and their compliance with nutritional standards. The nutritional standards have been in place since 2019, since the inception of the programme. They were developed by the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, the HSE, Safefood and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. There are 1…

I assure Deputy Hayes that the nutrition side is being closely monitored. Coming back to the overall discussion about suppliers, my preference is for local suppliers. That could be meals on wheels. Deputy O'Shea is with us. The Duhallow community food project is also a very good model. It is locally produced. This day last week, I was in St. Munchin's Community Centre in Limerick, where they do ex…

I thank Deputy O'Shea for his question. The total number of recipients of jobseeker's payments has remained generally steady over the last 12 months in both Cork and Limerick. In Cork, it varied between 11,700 and 13,700 over the year, while in Limerick, it varied between 5,200 and 6,000. At the end of January 2026, in Cork, there were approximately 12,100 recipients of jobseeker's payments. Figur…

I thank the Deputy and join him in acknowledging the superb work being done by our Intreo teams across the country. We will have work and skills events around the country next week. I encourage every Deputy to help to promote those events and to attend the events to see how they work. We are more than happy to show them. We have already had a good discussion this morning about youth employment and…

We will continue to work on activation. I am focused on targeted activation. It is important that we give people the opportunity to remain connected and qualified for the labour market. It is something I am very focused on doing, and I thank our Intreo colleagues. In relation to the branch office managers, as the Deputy knows, we have 55 social welfare branch offices at various locations, includi…

I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this issue. As he knows, the primary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet basic day-to-day income needs. In addition to those primary payments, we also provide a range of other payments that are considered secondary in nature. The living alone allowance is one of those secondary payments. It is not a scheme or stand-alone payme…

We are certainly conscious from our day-to-day experience with our own families, but also from our constituencies, that the cost and the cliff for those living alone, particularly those who have suffered bereavement or separation, is particularly tight. We are very conscious of that. That is why there has been such a big increase in it since 2019. I also want to ensure that people are aware there …

I will certainly take on board the Deputy's request. He is definitely in early but there were other Deputies even in ahead of him this morning for budget 2027 priorities. I will point out in the context of budget 2026, however, that €12 billion has been allocated for pension payments. Many people who are living alone are predominantly pensioners. That €12 billion is an increase of just over €700 …

I thank the Deputy. The Government recognises the significant additional costs that disabled people are facing in their daily lives. We are committed to improving outcomes for disabled people by reducing more permanent measures. The programme for Government includes a range of commitments to support disabled people, including a commitment to introducing a permanent annual cost-of-disability suppor…