Parliamentary questions

291. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the procurement model used by schools and patron bodies for meal provision, including the use of frameworks, lot sizes, SME access, and any late rule changes in 2025 that contributed to roll out delays; and to publish the corresponding risk register entries. [49469/25]

292. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide data on food waste from school meals (kg/week per school), for the years 2023 to 2025; and any menu reformulation or packaging trials to reduce waste. [49470/25]

293. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the way in which he will ensure equity for pupils with special diets (allergies, coeliac disease, cultural-religious requirements), including compulsory written allergen information availability on site; and the dates of the last environmental health inspections per school. [49471/25]

294. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is aware that disability allowance recipients are having their allowance revoked based on his Department’s contention that the person can work despite the person’s GP (best placed) categorically stating the person is unable to work; the way in which his Department can ascertain the person can work over the computer; and if h…

295. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department is currently carrying out a review of the work and access scheme; and if he is aware of a number of issues which have been flagged with regard to this scheme (details supplied). [49379/25]

296. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider amending the supplementary welfare allowance policy to allow referrals from An Garda Síochána to be accepted for fast-tracking emergency financial supports, including rent supplement, for victims of domestic violence; if he will review the current policy excluding Garda referrals in light of evidence that many vic…

297. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Social Protection if matters regarding contributions for persons will be clarified (details supplied). [49450/25]

298. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the projections made regarding the sustainability of the State pension system given demographic trends as of September 2025; the funding gap projected over the next decade; and the reforms or measures being considered to ensure long-term security for current and future pensioners. [49455/25]

299. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection the implementation status and timeline of State auto-enrolment, in light of CCPC research indicating that 26 percent of Irish adults have no retirement plan; to provide year-on-year trend data since 2023; and to outline funded measures for financial literacy and default fund protections to reduce under-saving risk. [49495/25]

300. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider allowing those on primary social welfare payments, such as disability allowance, to receive half rate payments on bereaved partners pension, or vice versa; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49498/25]

720. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection to confirm the project's public spending code stage gates and sanctioning approvals, including any value-for-money assessments comparing in-house build versus managed service; and to publish the value-for-money report. [48749/25]

721. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing weakly income threshold from €527 to €735 class employer PRSI threshold for entering the 11.15% rate. [49247/25]

722. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide an update on the work being carried out to resolve the problem of bogus self-employment in the building sector; if he will provide an assessment of the way in which the building sector is being impacted; the way in which it is intended to resolve this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47589…

723. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide the web links to his Department’s Q1 2025 and Q2 2025 published reports of procurement-related payments or purchase orders over €20,000 (in line with the FOI model publication scheme requirements); to confirm whether these reports have been published in full and are publicly accessible; and to state the planned publicatio…

724. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will publish the procurement related payment reports (details supplied) in machine-readable formats such as CSV or excel on a quarterly basis, in line with open data standards; if not, the legal, technical, or operational constraints that prevent compliance with the requirement under S.I. No. 376/2021 to provide su…

725. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection the supports being made available to school workers who are directly affected by the current strikes that is, bus escorts, who will not be in receipt of payment for the duration of the ongoing strikes by school secretaries and caretakers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47786/25]

726. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will be extending the current educational sector worker applications for all those affected until the strike issues are resolved regarding school secretaries and caretakers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47787/25]

727. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is considering making payments to those affected by the current strike issues available under the basic supplementary welfare scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47788/25]

728. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider reviewing the means assessments of those applicants who are directly affected by the current school secretary and caretaker strikes, to remove any means applied following their return to work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47789/25]

729. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection if his attention has been drawn to an issue concerning the wage subsidy scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47818/25]

730. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of schools under contract to a supplier (details supplied) under the hot school meals programme; the number of schools that exclusively cater to additional educational needs; the number that are DEIS schools; the number that are DEIS+ schools; his plans to provide parents of children affected by the cessation of the se…

731. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection whether current employment in the fashion, textile, and clothing retail sectors making PRSI contributions has been quantified in Budget planning documentation; whether additional activation supports, or training schemes are being considered for this workforce in Budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47918/25]

732. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will update the operational guidance for the additional needs payment to explicitly include emergency veterinary expenses for accredited assistance dogs; if he will publish claim statistics and outcomes for 2024 and to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47927/25]

733. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of disability allowance applications refused in the past five years for people with chronic conditions that significantly impact mobility and daily functioning, including chronic pain conditions; the average success rate at appeal stage; the average waiting time for appeal decisions; and if he will make a statement on the…

734. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of social welfare claims currently awaiting a decision, in each scheme in Longford and Westmeath; and the average waiting time for each. [48048/25]