Tairgim leasú Uimh. 61: Ar leathanach 35, líne 1 agus líne 2 a scriosadh agus an méid seo a leanas a chur ina n-ionad: “(2) Tiocfaidh fo-alt (1)(a) i ngníomh cibé tráth is déanaí díobh seo a leanas— (a) an tráth a achtófar an tAcht seo, nó (b) tráth thosach feidhme alt 4(c) d’Acht 2021. (3) Tiocfaidh míreanna (b) agus (c) d’fho-alt (1) i ngníomh cibé tráth is déanaí díobh seo a leanas— (a) an tráth a achtófar an tAcht seo, nó (b) tráth thosach feidhme alt 5 d’Acht 2021. (4) Tiocfaidh fo-alt (1)(d) i ngníomh ar an A…

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 62: Ar leathanach 35, líne 4, “2012 trí” a scriosadh agus “2012, i bhfo-alt (1), trí” a chur ina ionad.

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 63: Ar leathanach 35, líne 6, “i bhfo-alt (1)” a scriosadh.

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 64: Ar leathanach 35, i ndiaidh líne 6, an méid seo a leanas a chur isteach: “Leasú ar an Acht um Chosaint Sonraí, 2018 15. Leasaítear an tAcht um Chosaint Sonraí, 2018— (a) in alt 39(3)— (i) trí “de Pharlaimint na hEorpa, d’údarás áitiúil nó comhalta arna thoghadh nó arna toghadh chun Údarás na Gaeltachta, nó” a chur in ionad “de Pharlaimint na hEorpa nó d’údarás áitiúil, nó” i mír (b), agus (ii) tríd an mír seo a leanas a chur in ionad mhír (c): “(c) iarrthóir lena thoghadh nó lena toghadh chu…

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 65: Ar leathanach 7, líne 11, “do leasú an Achta um Chosaint Sonraí, 2018;” a chur isteach i ndiaidh “2012;”.

Go luath.

Tá a lán obair bhaile le déanamh.

I thank the Deputy for her question and correspondence on this issue. On the nutritional value of school meals, I am very aware of the concerns that have been expressed. It is important to note that each week, parents are provided with a menu of food options and it is the parents who select the food to be served to their children in that week. It is important, in my view, that parents continue to have this role. Second, the menu of food options presented to the parents is required to comply with standards set by th…

I would certainly be happy to consider that. There would be logistics issues. Some schools feed hundreds of students every day with a range of meal options. It could work, from a nutritional point of view as well, in that locally supplied food is generally healthier in this context. It is something we might even ask the nutrition review to consider as well. Anything we can do to help in the not-for-profit sector in this space, which is doing really amazing work as it is, I would be happy to do.

I join the Deputy in wishing a happy 50th to Balbriggan meals on wheels; it is welcome to the club. I agree with the Deputy. We will certainly have a look at it. The first thing to do is review the nutritional standards. We will complete the roll-out of the school meals programme into every remaining primary school in September. That is a good time to stand back, take stock and see how we can improve it. This is a very substantial investment on the part of the Department. Many of the suppliers are not complete corp…

The staff in my Department are acutely aware of the challenges faced by young people who leave care and are available to them to assist with the provision of social protection income and employment supports. The Department's staff engage with a range of stakeholders and advocacy groups working with vulnerable people. For instance in Dublin, staff engage with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and in the local network of children and young people's services committees as part of the process of co-ordinating the …

Tusla has a duty under section 45 of the Child Care Act 1991 to make a decision whether each person leaving care has a need for assistance and then to provide services in accordance with the legislation, subject to the resources. On reaching the age of 18, a young person is deemed to have left State care. Young people who have a care history with Tusla are entitled to an aftercare service based on their eligibility and assessed needs. The assessment considers a number of factors, including the young person's educat…

I thank the Deputy for her question and for raising this issue. As she will be aware, the Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 provided for changes to the social welfare means test to exclude child maintenance payments from assessment in all means-tested payments that my Department provides. This was one of the recommendations of the report of the child maintenance review group into the social welfare system. This change to the social welfare means test came into legal effect from June 2…

It is incredibly confusing for people when means tests are assessed in different ways for different schemes and services. This is the case even within my Department. There are often valid reasons for this, however. Schemes are being developed to cater for people in different circumstances and who are experiencing different and difficult contingencies. That said, the social protection system does not operate in a vacuum. The means-testing aspects of our social welfare system coexist with means tests in operation acr…

The Government recognises the additional costs associated with having a disability and is committed to improving outcomes for disabled people. In the programme for Government, we are committed to introducing a permanent annual cost of disability support payment. These commitments will build on progress made in recent years where we have taken steps to recognise the additional costs associated with having a disability. As part of last year's budget, significant supports for people with disabilities were introduced, …

I do not have a specific timeline yet but we are working on it. There are a number of different reports on the cost of disability, which have widely varying figures. One of the first things I am trying to do is address and come up with a figure that actually reflects the reality of it. When we have a figure we can work on, we will look at a timeline. From next week, applications for domiciliary care allowance can be made online, which is a small but important change that gives people the chance to avail of that opt…

I will work closely with the committee. It has always been a very collegial committee and has the interests of those with disabilities at heart. I am determined to work with the committee to come up with solutions and reforms. This applies not just to social protection but across services as well. We have a lot of work under way in this space and I hope that by the time we come to the end of our term in government that there will be a lot of positive change in this space.

I had this question down on behalf of Deputy O'Gorman but I thank Deputy Murphy for the question. The carer's allowance is the main scheme by which my Department provides income support to carers. There are currently 99,256 people in receipt of carer's allowance. Expenditure in 2025 is estimated at more than €1.24 billion. In common with other social welfare payments, the primary objective of the carer's allowance payment is to provide an income support to people experiencing a contingency that significantly limits…

I thank the Deputy. I meant to clarify in reply to Deputy O'Reilly earlier that we are conducting a review of the means test process across all schemes in the Department. Means tests are important but they are how the process is implemented. I look forward to hearing people's views on that. We will engage with the Minister for public expenditure on this issue. He is aware of the commitment in the programme for Government. If we look at the changes that have been made in recent years to the income disregard, they sh…

The commitment has to be looked at in light of the improvements that have been made in recent years, which I am determined to continue. In the context of the Deputy's final remarks, the long-term carer's contribution scheme was introduced in January 2024. Under this scheme, a person who has been a full-time carer - and yes, the Deputy is right that they are predominantly women - for an incapacitated dependant for at least 20 years, now get long-term carer's contributions that will cover gaps in their contribution r…