Questions

756. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on the onshore wind energy guidelines; if they will published in Q3 2026; and if not, if they will be published by the end of the year; the reason for the ongoing delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65762/26]

757. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider increasing the prices paid to suppliers of school meals. [64388/26]

758. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider increasing prices paid to suppliers of school meals. [64383/26]

759. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Social Protection if a reduction in the weekly overpayment of the pandemic payment will be allowed for a person (details supplied). [64464/26]

760. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of illness benefit claimants deemed unfit for work due to chronic migraine, based on the latest data available to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64606/26]

761. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which the Department is considering measures in Budget 2027 to address the impact of rising living costs on vulnerable households, including increases to core social welfare rates, enhanced supports for children, people with disabilities and one-parent families, improvements to the fuel allowance scheme, and other measures advocated b…

762. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will review the case of a person (details supplied); the reason the disability benefit application was refused on three separate occasions despite full medical evidence being submitted; if he will provide an update on the partial capacity benefit application now submitted. [64788/26]

763. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the details of any contracts in place between his Department and agencies under his remit with a company (details supplied) known to have provided material support to the IDF in Gaza, which the Government considers to be guilty of genocide, since 2023. [64855/26]

764. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will confirm the pension (non contributory) amount and not the pension (contributory) amount a person will receive if the person reaches 66 years-of-age on 1 January 2036 with no stamps, having not worked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64734/26]

765. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will provide details of the pension for a person who commences work as a nurse in Ireland at 36 years-of-age in 2006 and retires on 1 January 2036 at 66 years-of-age with 30 years of stamps (1,560 in total); the amount their COAP will be; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64733/26]

766. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of the publication of the successor Pathways to Work Strategy, which was anticipated early this year; the reason for the delay in its launch; and the timeline for its publication. [64948/26]

767. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 1545 of 13 January 2026, the approximate financial cost to the State of removing the means test for carers allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64993/26]

768. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the phasing out of the carers allowance means test as committed to in the Programme for Government; if there is a timeline for this commitment to be met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64991/26]

769. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he plans to amend the means-assessment system as it applied to savers in Budget 2027, in line with the recommendations contained in the 2024 report of the Social Welfare Oireachtas Sub-Committee, and further in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government to give effect to those recommendations. [65026/26]

770. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection the rational for the exclusion of teachers and others in the education sector from accessing jobseeker's pay related benefit; and if his Department will re-examine this with a view to allowing them to apply for the payment when they become unemployed. [65056/26]

771. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection when the €1,270 annual income exemption for seaweed harvesting under Article 152 of S.I. No. 142 of 2007 was last reviewed; if his Department has examined the impact of this threshold on recipients of jobseeker's allowance in coastal communities; and if he will amend the regulations to increase the exemption in recognition of inflation and the impo…

772. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Social Protection the procedure by which a person resident in the State who was married in the Lithuanian Embassy in Dublin prior to 2020 may have that marriage registered or otherwise recognised; if any provision exists under the Civil Registration Act 2004 for the registration of marriages solemnised in foreign diplomatic missions in the State; and if he is aware that…

773. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Social Protection if schools in County Leitrim (details supplied) have received their grants for hot school meals supply to date; if he will confirm the payment methods as advised to schools; and if the normal 30-day invoice period for suppliers and per the normal public service supplier code is in operation. [65332/26]

774. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 62815/26 of 7 September 2026, if his Department will now undertake an assessment of the average cost incurred by families in preparing a child to return to school, measured against the value of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65399/26]

775. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection in cases in which a building under his control is not wheelchair accessible, the reason for this; his plans to remedy this; and the timeline for measures to be completed. [65354/26]

776. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the wheelchair accessibility of all buildings under his control; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65324/26]

777. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Social Protection the total funding allocated to the work and access scheme for the financial years 2024, 2025 and 2026; the actual amount of funding drawn down or expended to date under the scheme; the total number of applications received for the work and access scheme since its commencement; the number of applications that have been approved, refused, and are curren…

778. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Social Protection the average processing time from the date of submission to a final decision for applications under the work and access scheme; the measures being taken to streamline the application workflow; the steps being taken to reduce any undue administrative or financial burdens placed on disabled applicants and employers during the application process; if a dedi…

779. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection to confirm consideration will be given to increasing the Household Benefits Package monthly sum for electricity and gas from €35 to support older people with energy costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65577/26]

780. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of WTE staff by grade, working in each INTREO office within Wexford, in tabular form. [65588/26]