Parliamentary questions

272. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will clarify the policy whereby compensation awards received by individuals following serious accidents are taken into account in the means assessment for disability allowance and related supports; and if she will review this practice, given that such awards are intended to compensate for loss, injury, and future care needs …

273. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection his views on whether it is unfair and inappropriate for compensation awards arising from personal injury or trauma to be treated as means for the purpose of determining eligibility for disability-related benefits; and the steps being taken to ensure that such awards are disregarded in means testing where they are intended to impro…

274. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will undertake a review of the current means testing arrangements for disability allowance to ensure that compensation or court awards arising from serious injury are not unfairly counted as income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56439/25]

275. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the EU funding opportunities that will be open for application for schemes under his Department and at agencies under his aegis in the next six months and in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56457/25]

276. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applicants for disability allowance appeals; and the number rejected over the past three years, in tabular form. [56466/25]

211. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of families in each county currently receiving the working family payment that will qualify for the fuel allowance following Budget 2026, in tabular form. [55621/25]

212. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of families and of children, in each county that will benefit from the back-to school clothing and footwear allowance extended to two-and three-year-olds following Budget 2026, in tabular form. [55622/25]

213. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of families in each county that will benefit from working family payment income thresholds increasing by €60 per week following Budget 2026, in tabular form. [55623/25]

214. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated additional number of recipients that will qualify for the carer's allowance after the income disregards increase in July 2026. [55669/25]

215. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated first year cost of Budget 2026 measures to increase the income disregards for carer's allowance which was provided on page 146 of the Expenditure Report 2025; when the Budget 2026 measure to increase the income disregards was announced. [55670/25]

216. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Social Protection in view of the fact that the domiciliary care allowance for a child with type 1 diabetes stops when the child is 16 years old, and not when the child finishes full time education, but the same support is required until the child is out of full time education, if he will consider changing the criteria to reflect this; and if he will ma…

217. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the procurement and certification standards applied to meat and poultry products supplied under the free school meals and school lunch schemes; if halal-certified meat is being used as a default standard by State-contracted caterers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55681/25]

218. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection whether her Department requires lunch providers participating in the free school meals programme to inform schools and parents if meat products are halal-certified; and if she will consider introducing mandatory labelling or disclosure rules to ensure transparency and parental awareness. [55682/25]

219. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has undertaken any assessment of whether the use of halal-certified meat in school meals is compatible with the principles of religious neutrality in State-funded education [55683/25]

220. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide a list of approved school meal contractors currently supplying halal-certified meat or poultry products under Department-funded school lunch schemes. [55684/25]

221. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection whether schools or parents are given any option to request non-halal meat or vegetarian alternatives within the free school meals programme; and if not, the reasons. [55685/25]

222. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department is using agentic AI in the delivery of its services or operations; if it is considering the use of agentic AI, and in what contexts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55705/25]

223. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason the expenditure allocation for disability activation supports will decline in 2026 to €25.99 million from €26.545 million in this year according the estimates published for Budget 2026; the programmes under subhead A.29 his Department expects to make savings; to confirm the number of people that will be supported under each …

224. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the rationale for a cut of over €22 million in the 2026 allocation for additional needs payments under estimate subhead A.10, with the allocation reduced to €58.134 million in 2026, from €80.671 million this year; the number of payments and the number of recipients the 2025 and 2026 allocations will support respectively; if he will con…

225. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of recipients for basic supplementary welfare allowance payments are projected for 2025 and 2026, respectively; the reason for the reduction in allocation underestimate subhead A8 from nearly €137 million to €118.6 million; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55735/25]

226. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider allowing partial capacity payment as a qualifying payment for fuel allowance (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55742/25]

227. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Social Protection the funding sources available to foodbanks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55752/25]

228. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Social Protection the measures being taken to address delays in fuel allowance payments for persons who are in receipt of another welfare payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55798/25]

229. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Social Protection if a person in receipt of carers allowance and is working 18.5 hours is paid by their employer for their break times and are included as working hours; the measures her Department uses to ensure that the person is not subject to repayments or review when not physically working during their lunch break. [55877/25]

230. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason his Department is projecting less spending on jobseekers benefit by €175 million in Budget 2026 when compared with spending in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56023/25]