I beg the indulgence of the Acting Chairperson to welcome members of the Moy ICA in County Mayo who have joined us in the Gallery. I hope they are enjoying their day. I assure the Senator that the RRDF continues to support high-quality and transformational projects across rural areas of Ireland in line with the objectives of Our Rural Future and the town centre first policy. I acknowledge the huge work being done by Cavan County Council in co-operation with local partners. I visited Councillor Kelly in Kingscourt o…

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises that: — the Government acknowledges that disabled people face additional costs in their daily lives; — the Government's determination to address this issue is reflected in the Programme for Government commitment, to introduce a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment; — delivering on this commitment is a core objective of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which the Go…

I did not say that. I said we would provide the information on the supports that are available.

There is no such implication.

The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of financial supports, energy efficiency, awareness initiatives and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. The overall strategy to combat fuel poverty and energy poverty is under the remit of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. However, the supports provided by the Government are cross-departmental and, in this regard, my Department is repr…

We are very focused on energy poverty. That is why the fuel allowance increase is 15%, which supports over 460,000 households that require most support with energy costs. This is the first year the fuel allowance has been expanded to working families. Those on the working family payment will get a back payment in March of their fuel allowance backdated to 1 January. That will bring an additional 50,000 people in. As I said, we have also looked at other areas that directly impact on families, particularly children. …

The increase in the fuel allowance is 15%. That is a permanent increase; it will not be from year to year. We expanded fuel allowance to the 50,000 families who are on the working family payment. Again, that is a permanent increase and a fundamental change to the fuel allowance payment. We are absolutely focused on energy poverty. We are working with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to address the issues that cause energy poverty. We will continue to do that, but we have also addressed a lot of the areas causing famil…

The Department of Social Protection provides a range of income support payments for disabled people. There are currently 231,000 recipients of disability income support payments, with an estimated expenditure of €3.24 billion in 2025. The Government recognises the many additional costs that disabled people face in their daily lives; I agree with the Deputy on that issue. We are committed to improving outcomes by introducing permanent measures to help address those costs. That is why the programme for Government inc…

I agree about the complexity of the costs facing people with disabilities. We are anxious to capture all those to make this a permanent cost, and one that reflects what they want in it. We will engage with all of the organisations, including the Disability Federation of Ireland, about that. In budget 2026 we have already taken measures, including a €10 increase in the weekly rate of payment, which brings the personal rates of payment to €254; a €20 per month increase in the rate of domiciliary care allowance, which…

Every day is a school day. We appreciate the pressures that every family is under. That is why we introduced permanent increases in budget 2026, which took effect from 1 January. The €10 increase in the weekly rate of payment brings to €51 the increase in the weekly disability income support payment since budget 2021. There are the highest ever increases in child support payment and a €20 per month increase in domiciliary care allowance. We have also made changes that allow those being paid disability allowance who…

As the Deputy knows, we introduced the automatic enrolment system from 1 January. The aim of introducing auto-enrolment is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and to provide workers with access to a quality-assured retirement savings scheme, thereby giving greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income. My Future Fund commenced on 1 January. More than 763,000 employees who were not actively contributing to a qualifying pension or PRSA through payroll were eligible. They have b…

Obviously, I do not want any CEO to be in that position. We will continue to engage with the Departments. I have the up-to-date figures. As of 12 January, 94,062 employers were registered and 700,256 employees were registered. The total amount collected to date since 1 January is €14.47 million. The contact centre, which has been open since 1 December, has taken 4,620 calls and 3,748 online chats. Some 57% of those are from employers, 21% from participants and 15% from agents. The contact centre is continuing to en…

We want to continue that engagement. In relation to Tata Consultancy Services, TCS, I have done more research since the Deputy and I last engaged on this. TCS is not included on any UN or EU database of companies that are involved in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Specifically, the UN, pursuant to Resolutions 31/36 and 53/25, produces a list of enterprises involved in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territori…

I thank Deputy Ardagh for the question. I will address the general issue first. My Department is committed to supporting disabled people into employment and offers a range of employment supports to achieve this. My Department's Intreo service is a single point of contact for all employment supports in the State. Disabled people can make an appointment to meet with a designated disability employment personal adviser to discuss employment and training options, including schemes such as community employment, Tús and r…

I will engage with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, in relation to Scoil Eoin and its designation. We want to continue to raise the profile of people with intellectual disabilities in employment throughout 2026. During the course of the year, we will have a specific range of training and work events for employers, offering opportunities for those with disabilities. I say again to all employers that they are missing out on serious talent and skills if they do not recruit people with disabilities. I commend all of the …

I will do that. In relation to the wage subsidy scheme, as of the end of November 2025, we had 1,550 employers and 2,615 employees availing of the scheme. On the work and access scheme, we had paid 221 grants to the end of November 2025. On WorkAbility, we have supported 4,585 people since 2024. I join the Deputy in paying tribute to the Oireachtas, in particular to former Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who led on the OWL initiative. It shows we can all offer that opportunity and avail of that skill and …

As the Deputy knows, the wage subsidy scheme is a key disability employment support. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people through a subsidy. In December 2025, 1,551 employers were availing of the wage subsidy scheme and 2,626 employees were supported through the scheme. Budget 2026 provided for the scheme to be expanded to those who acquire a disability or who have a progressive or degenerative condition that worsens and to those who transfer from invalid…

I thank the Deputy. We will certainly work across the House in relation to this area of furthering employment opportunities for those with disabilities. As we discussed earlier, WorkAbility is working on 57 local, regional and national projects right across the country. We have also work in access, which is one of the changes we announced alongside the changes to the wage subsidy scheme. This offers seven supports to improve access in the workplace for people with a disability. Funding is available for communicatio…

Just to come back to Deputy Murphy's point first, we will keep it under review. In 2024, the hours were reduced from 21 to 15, which is quite a substantial reduction. It is important that we also keep an eye on the main aim of the scheme which is to provide substantial and meaningful work and I think we need to keep that in mind as well. In relation to Deputy Hayes's point, we very focused on addressing that gap. As I said, we have made changes to the wage subsidy scheme. We have provided quite a lot of information…

We are close to the EU average, but it is nowhere near where I want them to be and I am determined to make a change there.