I propose to take Questions Nos. 1099 and 1114 together.
My Department and I, as we do each year, have been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, through the pre-budget process. This includes the receipt of many pre-Budget submissions, the Department’s Pre-budget Forum, the Social Inclusion Forum, and bilateral meetings with both the community and voluntary sector and individual representative groups.
As with all of these engagements, the views of Age Action, including their recently published papers, will form part of consideration by Government when forming social welfare measures to be included as part of Budget 2023, taking account of Government priorities, available resources, and the need to protect the most vulnerable in society.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputies.