Questions

279. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider extending eligibility for the vacant property refurbishment grant to include the conversion of vacant or underutilised retail premises such as "above the shop" units into residential accommodation, given the potential to deliver up to 20,000 additional homes as highlighted in the recent Hardware Association of…

280. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for finalising and publishing the revised local authority level social and affordable housing targets for the 2025 to 2030 period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18334/25]

281. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will outline the steps his Department is taking to improve data collection and database construction in anticipation of the increased data processing capacity that artificial intelligence adoption entails; if he will outline the logic behind their approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18363/25]

282. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will identify any projects which the Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18380/25]

283. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will identify any projects which a body under the aegis of his Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; if he will send this question to the bodies for direct response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18398/25]

284. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will specify the specific policy areas where the Department is examining future use of AI; if he will identify what entities the Department is working with, public or private, in relation to this examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18415/25]

285. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will identify any AI training offered to people working in the Department; the level of take-up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18432/25]

286. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail how many physical letters the Minister’s offices and the customer service team in the Department received from the public in 2024; whether those letters are digitised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18457/25]

287. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail how many emails the Minister’s offices and the customer service mailbox the Department received from the public in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18474/25]

288. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail whether any surveys have been carried out to estimate the amount of time taken up with administrative tasks where such time could be used more efficiently; if so, in which areas of the Department has this examination been carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18491/25]

289. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection in relation to invalidity pension, if a change has taken place with regard to the application criteria from ‘incapable to work for the following 12-month period’ to ‘incapable to work permanently’; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18094/25]

290. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of recipients of the pandemic unemployment payment who were retrospectively deemed ineligible for the amount they received and asked to repay overpayments; the delay between each such recipient receiving their last payment and being informed that they were subsequently being deemed ineligible; the reason for this delay; the process by w…

291. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Social Protection if he intends to revise the fee paid to optometrists under the PRSI benefit scheme; if so, the status of these plans; the timeline for its implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18171/25]

292. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if there is an age limit for the new baby grant concerning adoptive children; what the age limit is; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18201/25]

293. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the new income disregard for the carer’s allowance that will come into effect on July 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18202/25]

294. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if the homemaker’s scheme also covers households where parents are unmarried but a qualified cohabiting couple; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18203/25]

295. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the school lunch programme for rural schools, especially in Kerry, as rural schools are faced with a lack of providers for the school lunch programme as the distance is prohibitive; if she will increase the funding for this service in rural schools to reflect the distances from local providers to the schools; and if he will make a …

296. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has decided to review supports for workers who are put on short-time work in the context of the impact on workers and businesses of the tariffs announced by the US President on 2 April; if he will consider introducing a scheme similar to the German Kurzarbeit scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18269/25]

297. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is considering a PRSI rebate for SME’s to help them deal with increased costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18284/25]

298. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will provide more clarity on the availability of welfare priority for care leavers under exceptional social grounds in situations where they are at risk of homelessness. [18299/25]

299. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reasoning for having a cut-off point of 28 March for the pay-related job benefits scheme; why people who lost their jobs before this date are excluded from the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18347/25]

300. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will outline the steps his Department is taking to improve data collection and database construction in anticipation of the increased data processing capacity that artificial intelligence adoption entails; if he will outline the logic behind their approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18367/25]

301. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will identify any projects which the Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18384/25]

302. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will identify any projects which a body under the aegis of his Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; if he will send this question to the bodies for direct response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18402/25]

303. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will specify the specific policy areas where the Department is examining future use of AI; if he will identify what entities the Department is working with, public or private, in relation to this examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18419/25]