26. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the total number of persons combined who are actively claiming job seekers benefit, job seekers allowance and job-seekers pay related benefit; and if he will outline trends over the past five years such as whether more or less people are claiming unemployment-related social welfare this year compared to previous years; and if he will make a statement on…
Parliamentary questions
Questions
TDs ask ministers questions to get answers on the record, most of them in writing. Here is every one asked in the 34th Dáil, by the department it went to and the subject heading it was filed under. How questions work
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433 questions match, newest first.
27. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the engagement he has had on providing a State pension for foster carers; and the timeframe on this. [66968/26]
28. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he intends to make changes to and increase the Household Benefits Package in the coming months. [67521/26]
29. Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures his Department is considering to assist households facing high energy costs as winter approaches, particularly in rural counties such as Mayo where many households remain reliant on oil and solid fuels; and if he will make a statement on this matter. [67594/26]
30. Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Social Protection if he consideration will be given to review the minimum 16 hours weekly worked hours to qualify for carer’s benefit; and the impact the current rules have for teachers who are not on full time hours. [67659/26]
31. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department has considered providing any additional social protection payment supports specifically for households who are reliant on home heating oil. [67645/26]
32. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection if there has been an increase in the number of persons qualifying for the carers allowance on each of the occasions when the qualification threshold has been relaxed, or each occasion where the income disregard has increased; and if he will outline the number of new persons successfully claiming the allowance after each change to the criteria. [67173/2…
33. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection for an update on the new working age payment. [66686/26]
34. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection whether he has assessed the adequacy of the fuel allowance for households that have no alternative to oil; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67558/26]
35. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Social Protection the current refusal rates for first-time applications for carer's allowance, domiciliary care allowance and disability allowance; the percentage subsequently overturned on review or appeal; the current average processing time for first-time applications of these three payments; the current average processing time for a review and/or appeal; and the…
36. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he intends to increase the Working Family Payment in the coming months. [67520/26]
37. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Social Protection when he will introduce a cost of disability payment. [66484/26]
38. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider, as part of Budget 2027, extending eligibility for Illness Benefit to self-employed workers who are unable to work due to illness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66646/26]
39. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will remove the means test for Carer's Allowance. [66588/26]
40. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will report on the work of the General Register Office regarding the development of a process to recognise early pregnancy loss. [67537/26]
41. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will grant full rate carer’s allowance to applicants in receipt of other social protection payments. [67665/26]
42. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration has been given to increasing the amount of time that an individual in receipt of disability allowance can spend outside the State from two weeks per year; and if consideration has been given to the level of surveillance and collection of personal data that is involved when a disability allowance recipient travels outside of the State…
43. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Social Protection for an update on the Government commitment to examine the pension arrangements for foster carers; and whether additional proposals to support foster carers to access the State pension system are currently planned. [67628/26]
44. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Social Protection whether he will consider reforming the Carer's Support Grant to provide for two qualifying dates and biannual payments or an alternative pro-rata entitlement for persons who commence or cease providing full-time care during the course of the year. [67619/26]
45. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the removal of the mean’s test for Carer’s Allowance as committed to in the Programme for Government. [66650/26]
46. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Social Protection if, in light of the extension of Fuel Allowance eligibility to recipients of the Working Family Payment from 1 January 2026, he will review the eligibility criteria for Fuel Allowance for persons in receipt of Carer's Allowance; whether he acknowledges that some carers with household incomes comparable to those of Working Family Payment recipients are…
47. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection if open GoFundMe campaigns are assessed in additional needs payment applications; and to outline his Departments policy on this. [67323/26]
48. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of appeals received and decided by the Social Welfare Appeals Office in 2025 and to date in 2026; the proportion of original departmental decisions revised or overturned on appeal, broken down by scheme; the average time to decision for appeals determined summarily and by oral hearing respectively; and the number of appellants currently…
49. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason organisations (details supplied) remain in operation following the cessation of referrals to the JobPath programme in June 2022 and the closure of the JobPath service in June 2024, given that the programme had cost the State €344.6 million; the services these companies are currently providing; and the total cost to the State to date. [67187/26…
50. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection whether his Department is currently making payments to organisations (details supplied), or to companies associated with the former JobPath programme, given that €344.6 million of public money had been spent on the programme; if so, the total amount paid to these companies to date, including payments made since the JobPath service ceased in June 2024; an…