718. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Social Protection the current average waiting time for disability allowance and for carer’s allowance applications, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63361/25]
Topics / Social Welfare Eligibility
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsSocial Welfare Eligibility
524 questions from 120 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 21 October 2026.
524
questions
517 written, 7 oral
120
TDs have asked
11
parties and groups
Independents counted together
5
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 11 |
| February 2025 | 57 |
| March 2025 | 25 |
| April 2025 | 16 |
| May 2025 | 36 |
| June 2025 | 17 |
| July 2025 | 45 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 37 |
| October 2025 | 32 |
| November 2025 | 28 |
| December 2025 | 9 |
| January 2026 | 23 |
| February 2026 | 40 |
| March 2026 | 14 |
| April 2026 | 7 |
| May 2026 | 40 |
| June 2026 | 42 |
| July 2026 | 6 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 31 |
| October 2026 | 8 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
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22
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18
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16
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15
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15
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14
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13
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12
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
724. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider an addition fuel payment for polio survivors (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63706/25]
729. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection the rights to social welfare a returning emigrant who worked in Ireland for 12 to 13 years before emigrating to the USA has; and the length of time they must be resident in Ireland again before they qualify for social welfare payments. [63813/25]
76. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider reviewing the income disregards for carers and people with disabilities in light of the increased cost of living to ensure that social protection supports do not act as a disincentive to work or education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62187/25]
79. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who will gain from the changes in the means test for the carer’s allowance announced in budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62283/25]
81. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Social Protection if the employees of a company that has entered receivership (details supplied) can apply for new employment, jobseeker’s allowance, supplementary welfare allowance or any other social welfare payment during the lengthy receivership period without this action having a negative impact on their redundancy entitlements; and if he will make a statement …
141. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection whether consideration will be given to increasing the income threshold for eligibility to fuel allowance in line with increases received by pensioners in Budget 2026, as the increase could render some pensioners ineligible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62178/25]
352. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Social Protection if his department has examined how existing maternity and illness benefit schemes could be extended or adapted to provide income support to workers who experience pregnancy loss; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62424/25]
648. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection whether there was a commitment given to citizens who were on invalidity pensions or other welfare payments that they could go back to work during the Covid crisis and retain their payments. [60982/25]
657. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Social Protection if financial redress payments for mother-and-baby home survivors are taken into account during means tests for individuals receiving a non-contributory pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61122/25]
660. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide the exact credits and entitlements for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61276/25]
664. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to expanding the criteria of the occupational injuries benefit scheme to include healthcare workers that are suffering with long-Covid symptoms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61637/25]
666. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of hours spent implementing the means-test for carer's allowance; the cost of this work to implement the means test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61694/25]
667. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will detail the reason the recent liquidation of a company (details supplied) has led to its employees not being able to avail of social welfare for 30 days, when they are owed wages and monies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61712/25]
671. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection his views on the merits of expanding the fuel allowance to include all persons over the age of 70 that live alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61835/25]
674. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the annual cost to the Exchequer to maintain the existing fuel allowance payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61838/25]
675. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the research he has carried out into the cost of expanding the fuel allowance to a larger cohort of people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61839/25]
678. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection given the ongoing housing crisis, if his Department will consider adjusting the means assessment criteria for social welfare claims to allow for deductions in respect of rent and mortgage payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61917/25]
679. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to remove the requirement for an application to have an underlying entitlement to jobseeker’s allowance for those seeking to qualify for the back to work enterprise allowance, where said applicants have previously satisfied the nine month qualifying period on jobseeker’s benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61918/25]
680. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Social Protection if consideration will be given to payment of fuel allowance to polio survivors (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61953/25]
683. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will explain the reason a parents carers allowance is under review for a person (details supplied); f his Department will provide an update on this review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61971/25]
687. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason his Department does not accept medical certificates issued by a private medical insurer (details supplied) for the purpose of an application for illness benefit; if he plans to change this rule; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62222/25]
693. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on his Departments plans to extend the eligibility for the rural social scheme to include people who are not involved in farming or fishing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55945/25]
95. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is aware of any cases in which young people have been asked to prove that they were ‘abandoned’ by a parent or guardian in order to access social welfare supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57438/25]
97. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will provide a decision timeline for the case of illness benefit for a person (details supplied), an applicant who is under severe financial pressure. [57520/25]