I recognise the work of the Department on the refugees and the level of support they have needed, both in regard to PPS numbers and emergency income supports. I am sure the staff have worked long hours in that regard, which must be acknowledged. I wish to mention one cohort in particular in regard to pensions, namely, family carers. For a long time they have been promised a solution in respect of the State pension. It is a real shame that in this day and age we have family carers who have given years of support to …

I have asked the Minister about the minimal essential standard of living, MESL, and about linking social welfare payments to it. I want to ask the Minister about that again, given the latest data from the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, which was recently published by the CSO.

The Minister pointed to a number of improvements outlined by the SILC data. The SILC data have once again shown consistent poverty among lone-parent families, which are four times more likely to be in poverty than households that are headed by two adults. In some cases, there were across-the-board increases. For people aged over 65, there were increases in those at risk of poverty, increases in deprivation and increases in consistent poverty. In relation to those who are unable to work due to long-standing health p…

The figures speak for themselves. In 2020, the consistent poverty rate for those aged over 65 was 1%. It is now 2.5%. Deprivation and at risk of poverty have increased. For those unable to work - I presume many of them are people with disabilities - deprivation is up to 39.6% and consistent poverty is at 19.2%. All those rates are up. There are no improvements or reductions. That is not happening. Lone parent households are suffering most when it comes to the composition of households. There is a massive difference…

What are the Minister's plans to provide for the staff in local employment services and job clubs who will, in some instances, lose their jobs in the weeks and months ahead? Will redundancy payments be provided?

Statutory redundancy will be made available, as it is to most workers, albeit it will be limited. I am speaking about redundancy beyond the statutory redundancy because some of these workers have given 20, and in some cases, 25 years of dedication. During that time they have educated themselves and retrained and they are highly skilled workers who deserve better. The tender has gone ahead and the second phase is well under way. I refer to those four areas that were tendered in the first phase and which the Minister…

I mention the roughly 388 people who work in local employment services and job clubs. When a new provider like Turas Nua or Seetec Ireland comes in, some of those workers who have given 20 to 25 years of work to not-for-profit and community-based employment services will not want to take up a role in an organisation that is run for-profit, that provides payment by results and that is not within the ethos of a community-based and not-for-profit body. The 40 jobs clubs across the State are more or less being wiped ou…

I have said many times that it is totally unacceptable that statistics are not collected on the number of people who are refused exceptional needs payments. If we do not know how many apply for it and are refused, then we have a problem. We need the data. The Department collects data on many things and this should be one of them. I welcome what the Minister has said on collating statistics. I presume those statistics will only be collected from now on. How is that being done? I agree with what has been said. I am g…

I raise the current and ongoing crisis in home care and the 412 people approved for home care in counties Roscommon and Galway who are not receiving it. Some, of course, receive some level of care and have been approved for more, while others have been approved and are not receiving anything. It is now being reported that some older people are staying in bed all day. Frankly, it is heartbreaking that this is happening in this day and age. I understand the Minister has established the workforce advisory group, which…

I welcome this motion and commend my constituency colleague Deputy Fitzmaurice and his colleagues on bringing it forward. They have put forward, as has widely been agreed here this evening, reasonable asks of Government with regard to the turf-sale ban initially proposed by the Minister, Deputy Ryan. One of the first things the Minister, Deputy Ryan, said when he stood up was about the amount of misinformation that has been given on this issue. Of course most of that misinformation came from Government because ther…

There is a commitment in the programme for Government to develop a pension solution for family carers. That commitment is now nearly two years old. The Report of the Commission on Pensions, which was published seven months ago and on which we still await the Government's response, made a number of recommendations for family carers. Can a commitment be made to ensure that this pension solution for family carers is brought about in the next budget? They have waited long enough. Family carers deserve a full State pens…

This is very important legislation. We have known for some time the struggle that some households face when it comes to energy costs. Of course, that situation is now worse than ever, given the cost of living crisis and the particular crisis that families and households face as electricity and gas prices continue to rise. As we all know, suppliers have been increasing prices further and have been doing so consistently for the past year. In particular, in the past number of weeks, we have seen increases announced by…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — it is not possible for the Government to fully insulate all households from every price increase but, nonetheless, believes that the measures announced by the Government to date, including those announced on 13th April, are inadequate and that more can and should be done to support workers and families at this time; — prices have been rising at a record-breaking pace and the Consumer Price Index increase between February and March this year is the highest monthly increa…

As Sinn Féin has acknowledged previously, and acknowledges in the motion, the Government cannot do everything when it comes to the cost of living and, in particular, the energy crisis that households right across this State face. However, there is a glaring anomaly in relation to rural households, the vast majority of which rely on home heating oil and nothing else to heat their homes, and the reduction and removal of excise duty. The Minister went to great lengths to tell us about the difficulties in relation to r…

I raise the rural-proofing mechanism or model that was committed to in Our Rural Future, which is a very important and practical tool that is needed to ensure our rural communities are considered when it comes to policies across government. Can the Minister give us an update on that?

I thank the Minister for that update. Did she receive an initial draft of that report? If so, has she gone through it? She said the final draft that will follow is imminent. What does she expect the next steps will be? This will be an important piece of Our Rural Future and an important mechanism going forward when it comes to policies right across government as, before they are introduced, they will be looked at through that rural lens. It will also be important in order to avoid any unintended consequences or any…

It is welcome that things are moving with the rural-proofing model. It will be important moving forward as many people are now moving back to rural communities. In my area, there is an increase in the population that I have not seen in my lifetime. We need to make sure everything that can be done is done in order that people moving back to rural areas, or moving into rural communities, are supported. We must back up that increase in population with the services and supports that are needed. Key to that will be that…

I ask the Minister of State about the engagement his Department has had on the arrival of the Ukrainian refugees. I ask him to outline the engagement he has had to date and the role his Department will play in supporting the refugees who have come here and who will come here in the coming weeks.

It is important that we recognise the effort that has been made by the community and voluntary sector and by ordinary people in communities across the State who have come together to prepare buildings and welcome the Ukrainian refugees. I have seen it in my constituency. Roscommon Lions Club, along with Roscommon County Council and other volunteers, came together to work on what was formerly the Cuisle Accessible Holiday Resort in Donamon, which has welcomed refugees in recent weeks. A huge effort was put in by the…

I also want to ask about vacant properties. This is something that has been raised and been in the ether in recent weeks and the idea of people doing up homes and opening them up for the refugees has been touted. Homes will be needed if buildings like those in Donamon fill up. There are a great number of vacant properties across the State and I wonder if there has been engagement between the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on this? I am thin…