Ceisteanna Parlaiminte

Social Welfare Payments

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

1. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection if, in light of her not proceeding further with the consultation on the Green Paper on disability payments, she intends to examine a cost-of-disability payment; and whether she intends to introduce different reforms to the disability payments. [18467/24]

Flood Relief Schemes

Seán Sherlock

2. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications made under the humanitarian aid scheme for uninsured householders in 2023, particularly on flooding, segmented by county; and the number of successful and unsuccessful applications, in tabular form, with the total amount issued. [18232/24]

Citizens Information Services

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

3. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps she and her Department are taking to ensure workers in citizens information companies are provided with a pay increase, given the length of time since their last pay increase; and if she will provide the funding to ensure this happens [18468/24]

Food Poverty

Gary Gannon

4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are plans to seek more sustained, long-term solutions to support families experiencing food poverty during school holidays, given the Children’s Rights Alliance food provision scheme received applications totalling over €350,000 - six times its capacity, in the run up to the Christmas holidays in 2023. [18664/24]

EU Directives

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

5. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Social Protection to clarify whether she intends to taper benefits received by beneficiaries of temporary protection in advance of the ending of the temporary protection directive in 2025. [18469/24]

Social Welfare Payments

Pauline Tully

6. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection if she is considering the consolidation of all disability payments together into one single payment system; if so, her plans to consult and co-design this scheme in conjunction with the disability community; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18411/24]

Social Welfare Eligibility

Robert Troy

7. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider abolishing the punitive means test for the carer's allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18203/24]

Social Welfare Appeals

Peadar Tóibín

8. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who, having been refused the disability allowance, were successful in their appeals of her Department’s decision to refuse in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. [17667/24]

School Meals Programme

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

9. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department has measured the progress and success of the school meals programme in the context of diet, attendance and educational attainment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18078/24]

Departmental Reports

James O'Connor

10. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection when the Social Protection annual report for 2023 will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18434/24]

Social Welfare Benefits

Ciarán Cannon

11. Deputy Ciarán Cannon asked the Minister for Social Protection when the extension of child benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education will take effect; the number of students who will benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18169/24]

Social Welfare Eligibility

Ciarán Cannon

12. Deputy Ciarán Cannon asked the Minister for Social Protection when people with epilepsy can apply for the free travel pass; if she will outline the process for applying; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18168/24]

Equal Opportunities Employment

James O'Connor

13. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of organisations in receipt of the workplace equipment adaptation grant in 2023 in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18435/24]

Social Welfare Schemes

Pádraig O'Sullivan

14. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who availed of the activation and family support programme in 2022 to fund the cost of training supports and education courses for people on social welfare in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18137/24]

School Meals Programme

Alan Farrell

15. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the roll-out of the hot school meals programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17836/24]

Departmental Programmes

Richard Bruton

16. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has considered the scope for promoting engaging activities and positive health measures as a part of the welfare programmes promoted by her Department to the pensioners whom she supports with regular financial payments and occasional urgent need payments as part of a more joined-up approach to positive ageing. [18076/24]

Social Welfare Offices

Ruairí Ó Murchú

17. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the creation of processing hubs for community welfare and other services; whether she is aware of any administrative difficulties caused by the creation of the hubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18405/24]

Social Welfare Benefits

Catherine Connolly

18. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will outline, further to the recent scrapping of the green paper on disability reform, her plans to introduce a cost of disability payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18376/24]

Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Brendan Griffin

19. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of staff, including total WTE positions and grade breakdowns, working in the Department's scope section; if the section is adequately staffed to undertake the work required of it in relation to examining bogus self-employment in large organisations such as RTÉ; how long she expects the RTÉ scope investigation to take to conclude; if the scope section plans to examine cases of workers at RTÉ prior to the period currently under examination by the scope section; if the scope section is currently examining or has plans to examine other State or semi-State agencies; if so, which ones; the annual budget for the scope section for each of the past five years; how many prosecutions her Department has initiated as a result of bogus self-employment cases in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18380/24]

Social Welfare Payments

Bernard Durkan

20. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has considered any options to improve the speed with which applications for disability allowance or similar means-tested payments are processed thus eliminating hardship for people who may be vulnerable; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18337/24]