Social Welfare Payments
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-07
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

A sum of €21.6 million or 164,000 customers are not small numbers.
I thank the Deputy again for raising the matter. I agree with her that in a world that is changing hugely, we cannot let older people be left behind and left out. They are feeling isolated and vulnerable in a digital world that is changing, and we cannot ignore that. The Government will not be found wanting in that regard.
The Department provides targeted payments to help people with their household costs. I listed the fuel allowance, the living alone increase, the household benefits package and additional needs payment because it is a comprehensive suite of measures and investment by Government.
While these supports can, of course, help older people with their cost-of-living services, providing access to these services is also a priority for Government. In this regard, it is providing very significant funding through the national broadband plan. That plan, which is the largest ever telecommunications project undertaken by the State, will radically transform our broadband landscape through the delivery of quality, affordable high-speed broadband to all parts of Ireland where such services will be delivered and available to people. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that 1.1 million people, including people living in rural and urban areas, farms and non-farms, and businesses will be connected by 2026.
I reassure the Deputy that the Department will continue to support recipients of the telephone support allowance, especially where they are vulnerable and at risk of isolation. The existing supports available in the Department along with the recent budget increases will continue to support this important group of people, but I will take the remarks the Deputy has made back to the Minister because, in a changing world, it is important that we do not leave older people behind. The world that they inhabit now is a digitally changed world and we have a duty of care to them as well.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-07