Questions

581. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of HAS1 forms that have been received per county or social welfare district since storm Éowyn; the number which have been processed; the number for which a payment has issued; the average payment in each county or district; the number of applications which have been rejected, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72…

582. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Social Protection if there is a variation in the manner in which HAS1 forms received since storm Éowyn have been dealt with in different counties or social welfare districts; if so, if he plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7285/25]

583. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Social Protection if the HAS1 form has been means tested since storm Éowyn; if payment will issue in cases in which frozen food had to be discarded but to power outages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7286/25]

584. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 908 of 18 April 2023 and No. 363 of 25 April 2023, his views on the need to retain in-person Citizens’ Information Services; if Dublin south CIS continues to search for an alternative affordable premises, as advised in the responses; and if she will make a statement on the meaning of affordable in the context of s…

585. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Social Protection the rationale for preventing an individual who works in the public sector to apply for the work and access support grant considering that reasonable accommodations and supports are not guaranteed in the public sector and the offering of such supports for a public sector employee is down to internal budgetary restraints and not the individual’s needs.…

586. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide a schedule of all external legal consultation that he engaged in, in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025; the general nature of the engagement; if the external consultation resulted in a report and or recommendations; and the cost of each consultant and or company engaged. in tabular form. [7442/25]

587. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will take steps in relation to the case of a person (details supplied) who is being denied carer's allowance on the grounds that they receive a fostering allowance from a fostering agency that is not funded under section 38 of the Health Act 2004, but the agency has a contract with Tusla; if this anomaly will be addressed; and if he will make a st…

588. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 496 of 18 February 2025, if he can detail the specified medical criteria referred or provide a copy of the criteria upon which the assessment is made; if he can confirm that it is a medical assessor in his Department who determines whether the medical criteria is met in the first instance; if he can confirm wher…

589. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Social Protection if a debt repayment plan will be accepted for an overpayment in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7489/25]

590. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Social Protection if a debt repayment plan will be accepted for an overpayment in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7490/25]

591. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide data on the final cost of public procurement tenders where his Department or agencies under the aegis of his Department acted as the contracting authority in each of the past five years, indicating the number of tenders where the final cost was under, on, or over the contract award value at the time of tendering, in tabular form. [7513/25]

592. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Social Protection the total amount spent in excess of the contract award value for all public procurement tenders within his Department and agencies under the aegis his Department of in each of the past five years. [7531/25]

593. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Social Protection if a redress payment from the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in the North of Ireland to a person who is resident in the Republic of Ireland would impact on their State benefits; if a bilateral agreement is in place to avoid this as was the case for previous redress schemes on both sides of the border. [7563/25]

594. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will take the opportunity offered by the need to amend legislation pertaining to widows, widowers or surviving civil partner’s contributory pensions to extend the ability to qualify for the pension to those who were unmarried couples; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7584/25]

595. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are plans to revise the existing application guidelines for the domiciliary care allowance, especially in relation to children who are right below the threshold; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7589/25]

596. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports available to parents of autistic children where they do not qualify for the domiciliary care allowance. [7590/25]

597. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection to review the qualifying criteria for disability allowance (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7640/25]

598. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 495 of 16 February 2025, if he will confirm that the Department collates certain information in respect of applications (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7677/25]

599. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Social Protection when the extreme weather event assistance scheme will be established; who will qualify for support under this scheme; if assistance will be granted to businesses, clubs, farmers and others affected by storm Éowyn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7715/25]

600. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Social Protection if a low-income household, where some members are in low-income employment and not in receipt of social protection, can access fuel allowance; if all members of a household need to be in receipt of social protection payments before fuel allowance will be granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7721/25]

601. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Social Protection for a digital copy of the Ministerial briefing document provided by his Department on taking office, along with copies of Ministerial briefs provided to Ministers of State of his Department; to outline the duties he intends to delegate by statutory instrument to his Minister of State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7757/25]

602. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to phase out the means test for carer's allowance within this Government; the proposed timeline for this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7838/25]

603. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of training support grants paid by his Department, by county in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7857/25]

604. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons per county in receipt of jobseeker's payments in January 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7858/25]

605. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of people who were referred to JobPath, by county in 2024; the total amount paid to Seetec and Turas Nua for services in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7859/25]