Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

I welcome the Minister to the House today. I also welcome the opportunity to speak on the Social Welfare, Civil Registration and Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026. The Minister will be very much aware that in July of this year, I and other members of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Rural and Community Development published our pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of this Bill. I want to address those key considerations that were brought forward from those who appeared before the committee. I note that the Department is taking into consideration the recommendations brought forward by the committee ahead of Committee Stage of the Bill. A change to the public services card is an important part of this Bill and has been subject of a lot of debate in the past. Witnesses before the committee raised concerns about the use of the public services card as a form of age verification. Will the Government give due consideration to these concerns? This is particularly important given the revelation that the Data Protection Commission found the Department of Social Protection unlawfully processed facial biometric data of approximately 70% of people over 15 years of age.
The second point made by members in the recommendations made by the committee was that:
"the scope, limits to the scope and intended use of the Public Service Card be clearly set out in legislation.
- Any proposals to extend the use of the Public Services Card to additional services be subject to appropriate legislative processes and oversight.
- the use of the Public Services Card be supported by clear safeguards and transparency measures, including clear rules on [the use of] data
- the voluntary nature of the Public Services Card be maintained in practice and monitored on [an] ongoing basis, to review that individuals are not disadvantaged where they choose not to use the card as a form of identification.
Given these, I seriously question whether this is necessary. The public services card had a clear rationale: it was for accessing social protection payments and services, and then it was broadened to Government services. Now, the Government is going further and extending this to the private sector, in effect, becoming a de facto national identity card. As a national Parliament, we cannot allow this debate to go on without the Government addressing this fact. Is this in any way linked to the Government's so-called digital wallet and any forthcoming online safety measures? I seriously question whether this is necessary and if it is, the Government should outline its point and not bypass a debate on what is, for all intents and purposes, a national identity card. The Government must outline its intention now, and as quickly as possible.
I note that a key part of the Bill deals with digitalisation. That being said, it is important to consider the impact this could have on a number of different cohorts, particularly older people and those in rural Ireland. According to the CSO, in 2025 34% of people aged 75 and over had never used the internet, while 17% of households said they did not have access to the internet because of a lack of digital skills. Furthermore, Age Action has also said that 62% of people aged 65 and over face digital exclusion.
Equally, many parts of rural Ireland have poor internet connectivity, if they have any at all. The CSO reported that in 2025 only 84% of households in the midlands, which includes my county of Kildare, had access to fixed broadband. This is below the national average of 87%. Also, the percentage of those without internet access because it is unavailable in their area has only decreased by 1%, from 5% in 2024 to 4% in 2025. While I welcome the aims of the Bill regarding digitalisation, as TDs we cannot allow digitalisation to become an additional barrier for older people and those who live in rural Ireland. Digitalisation can only be done with inclusiveness at its centre, and alongside further improvements in internet connections and digital literacy skills. An example of this challenge is with the roll-out of the MyWelfare online service. This is, again, a very welcome modernisation of access to social protection, but it has become a barrier for many older people who are trying to apply for critical payments but find it difficult to print forms and fill them in. Any further development and expansion of digital services must only be done in a way that is inclusive of all people accessing services, in particular older people. This was one of the recommendations brought forward by the committee, and to ensure that the design and delivery of online services takes these barriers into consideration, while also allowing for opportunities to upskill older people in their digital skills.
Are the provisions of head 8 of the general scheme now gone? That head would have allowed the Minister to put the existing code of practice for determining employment status on a statutory footing. I note that this is a follow-on from the Supreme Court's Karshan ruling, which has tightened the legal definition of self-employment. Putting the code on a statutory footing would fall short of what is needed to be done to tackle bogus self-employment and to protect workers in the gig economy. My Labour Party colleague, Deputy Marie Sherlock, previously introduced a Bill to address this in 2021. Could the Government clarify whether head 8 is gone from the Bill, or if it intends to use a different legislative mechanism?
Like other colleagues, I welcome the aim of the Bill to make technical amendments to improve the work of the appeals office. This is something I have spoken to the Minister about for a long period. I have raised the long waiting time for processing appeals, which is having a detrimental impact on family carers, people with disabilities, lone parents and older people who are waiting to access vital payments. I am aware the Minister has carried out some work on this but could he continue to work on the length of time people are waiting for a decision on their appeals? I note that according to the most recent reply we have received from the Department of Social Protection the average waiting time is around 13 weeks. However, my office has been supporting people who have been waiting for up to a year to hear about their appeals. That is simply not good enough. In the past the Minister has agreed with me about this. I sincerely hope the proposed changes will go some way towards bringing down the waiting time for appeals, especially for those people who need the payments most.
This is a very small piece of legislation but, as has been said by other colleagues in the Chamber tonight, there are much more urgent issues facing many low-income, vulnerable households.
I am particularly concerned about the Taoiseach’s recent comments regarding child poverty and the statistics. Ireland is a rich country, so when we hear that the rate of child poverty is increasing it should be of concern to us all in the House. The Government should not be scraping the bottom of the barrel by talking about definitions of poverty when we know so many children are suffering. If this Government is serious about tackling child poverty and supporting low-income households, then budget 2027 should be a children's budget.
We need fundamental reforms that support households with the rising cost of living. The Government needs to bring forward a second tier of child benefit payment to support those on lower incomes. That cannot be done alone because many working families are also struggling. They are struggling to pay bills and to put food on the table. These are the people who are keeping this country going and they are the people that we and the Government need to support.
We need to see progress on reforming parental leave entitlements for working families. Ireland is very much out of step with the rest of Europe when we look at the duration of leave on offer and the rate of payment that obtains. This is a big issue for new dads in particular. Unfortunately, new dads are only entitled to two weeks' paid paternity leave, for which the rate is €299. The latter is not enough to support a family. That is why dads cannot spend time supporting their partners in those key early weeks and months. I raised this issue recently with the Minister for children regarding a mother who could not cope due to having a Caesarean section and needing extra support at home. The Government must take the first step in reforming parental leave entitlements by extending paid paternity leave for new dads and work towards introducing a pay-related payment that actually supports workers to spend more time with their child. Recently in the House, the Minister for children indicated the Department of Social Protection is working on this. These reforms must also include supporting lone parents who cannot access the same amount of leave as two-parent families. Lone parents should be entitled to the same leave because the care needs of a child do not change regardless of whether there is one parent or two in the home.
I cannot let this opportunity go without raising with the Minister the need to increase the age threshold for domiciliary care allowance from 16 to 18 years of age. The Minister is very familiar with the number of times I have raised this with him. I know it is something he has committed to consider. I hope he will consider it in the context of the upcoming budget.
I am also concerned about the number of older people who have been in contact with my office and who are struggling with their energy bills. This issue has been raised a number of times already. I refer in particular to older people who live alone. This is a massive issue for my office. The Government must look at increasing welfare payments for older people, starting with increasing the fuel allowance, extending the season and increasing the household benefits package.
I look forward to continuing the debate on the merits of the Bill as it progresses through the House. As already flagged, there are a number of critical issues that must be clarified by the Government.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22