Said and Done

Topics / Social Welfare Rates

A subject heading for parliamentary questions

Social Welfare Rates

129 questions from 47 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 21 October 2026.

129
questions
127 written, 2 oral
47
TDs have asked
10
parties and groups
Independents counted together
3
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
MonthQuestions
January 20251
February 20256
March 20256
April 20252
May 20257
June 20257
July 202536
August 20250
September 20257
October 20255
November 20253
December 20252
January 20262
February 20262
March 20264
April 20265
May 20263
June 202619
July 20267
August 20260
September 20261
October 20264

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.

  • Aontú5 from 2 TDs · 2 seats today
  • Fianna Fáil24 from 14 TDs · 48 seats today
  • Fine Gael13 from 5 TDs · 38 seats today
  • Green Party1 from 1 TD · 1 seat today
  • Independent11 from 5 TDs · 15 seats today
  • Independent Ireland2 from 1 TD · 4 seats today
  • Labour Party21 from 3 TDs · 11 seats today
  • People Before Profit-Solidarity15 from 3 TDs · 3 seats today
  • Sinn Féin33 from 9 TDs · 39 seats today

The TDs who asked most

Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.

  1. Louise O'Reilly
    22
  2. Mark Wall
    17
  3. Paul Murphy
    9
  4. John Paul O'Shea
    6
  5. Michael Cahill
    6
  6. Barry Heneghan
    5
  7. Richard Boyd Barrett
    5
  8. Barry Ward
    4

Asked of

Debated under the same heading

Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.

The questions

Paul Murphy Written 27 Feb 2025 · to Social
309. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of abolishing the reduced rate of jobseeker’s allowance for persons under 25 years in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8774/25]
Michael Cahill Written 20 Feb 2025 · to Social
274. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if the living alone allowance will be increased given many senior citizens are finding it increasingly difficult to survive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6912/25]
Barry Heneghan Written 5 Feb 2025 · to Social
765. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Social Protection if a second-tier child benefit payment will be introduced for low-income families in response to the high levels of child poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3591/25]
Pádraig Rice Written 22 Jan 2025 · to Social
904. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Social Protection to explain the Government’s intentions in respect of its draft Programme for Government commitment to progressively increase a number of welfare payments (details supplied); if these increases will be benchmarked against a particular measure, such as the minimum essential standard of living; if these increases will solely apply to those listed in the d…