Social Welfare Payments
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-23
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Sharon Keogan (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I thank the Minister for engaging with me on this issue. He stated that only 18,000 are affected, but informing people is not the same as designing a system that works for them. The system should not depend on whether a citizen happens to understand the technical distinction between reported and non-reported payments. Where the State can take care of this issue, it should. It is as simple as that.
These payments are complex, and the complexity is being pushed onto the citizen, which is neither acceptable nor efficient. A burden of complex administration is being taken from the Civil Service, which is best able to handle it, and put onto the citizen, who is less equipped to understand the matter. That will only result in more time and resources being spent on correcting errors. We all know that when we owe the Revenue Commissioners, be it in life or in death, the payment is taken. Maybe the Minister could take my remarks on board and maybe we could have a complete tax exemption that includes carers.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-23