Social Welfare Payments
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

The 50% figure is based on a 2023 paper by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI. Since then, as I said, we have increased the number of families by 20% and that continues to increase. The working family payment, because it is connected to earnings, is complicated and complex. That earning profile can change depending on work patterns so it is not a direct correlation in terms of it. Certainly, however, I will ask my officials to pursue if there will be information available through working with Revenue. We had a debate in this Chamber on Tuesday evening about not sharing information. We also have to be very careful in relation to that. I have to say that I think the Deputy will see greater uptake. The alignment of the fuel allowance payment to the working family payment did more to raise awareness of the working family payment than a lot of things. I think the 2026 figures will show growth. The working family payment is one of the most important payments in the Department. It encourages people to go out to work. It acknowledges that there is an expense in going to work. I will be doing my utmost to promote its availability and accessibility but also to ensure people know they may or may not qualify for it. That is the biggest challenge with the working family payment.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24