On prevailing side: this member voted with the winning side in 639 of 646 decisive votes (2 abstentions excluded). Read it as a government-or-opposition indicator rather than a measure of influence — the figure is near 100% for members supporting the government of the day and near 0% for those opposing it.
This is the point of the site: contributions keep the party held on the day, not the one held now.
| Party | Recorded as | Contributions | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| FG | Fine Gael | 2,285 | 2020-03-26 – 2024-10-22 |
Membership spells on record: FG 2011-02-25–2016-03-09 · FG 2016-03-10–2020-01-14 · FG 2020-02-08–2024-11-08
This motion tonight is a political stunt. The Government is already looking at a further package of measures to help with the cost of living and as has been the case for the last two and a half years, we will not be found wanting when it comes to supporting the people.
Wrong.
Two weeks to turn around.
No bubble.
I am not smirking. The Deputy should withdraw that comment.
I was not smirking.
The Deputy should withdraw that comment. I was not.
I was not.
I was not.
How dare you say that. I was not.
How dare he, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
I was not smirking, I can assure you.
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The community welfare service is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring applications are processed and decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. The purpose of an additional needs payment is to assist with essential once-off expenditure which people could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. In 2022 97,224 additional needs payments were issued at a total value of more than €58 million. The increase in t…
As we all know, CWOs do everything they can to help people. We absolutely value them and the delivery of this service is a priority for me and for my Department. I want to ensure people can get support when they are in need. That is why we had the major communications campaign to raise awareness of the availability of the additional needs payment. In 2022 97,000 applications were made. A freephone service is available for people who cannot make it to the office. There are a number of different ways in which people …
We have provided additional staff for the service. There are currently 412 people across all grades in the community welfare service. In light of the increased level of applications and as part of the budget, we have secured agreement for approximately 74 additional staff to be assigned to the community welfare service. Recruitment has commenced for these additional staff and it is anticipated they will be in place in the coming weeks, by the end of quarter 1 of 2023. In the interim, until those staff have been rec…
The Government recognises the important role family carers play in Irish society and is fully committed to supporting them through a range of payments and services. For this reason, the annual carer's support grant, which is paid in respect of each care recipient, is not means-tested and is not taxable. The grant is currently paid at a rate of €1,850 per year, which is the highest rate at which it has been paid since it was first introduced in 1999. As part of budget 2023, I announced a range of measures directly b…
I thank Deputy Sherlock. I know the case he has raised with me, and I understand the point he is making. From a social protection perspective, income is income and means tests are based on income. As I said, we are going to do a review of all the means tests because some, in terms of capital, are around €20,000, a figure that has not been changed in a long time. I expect to be in a position to increase that because €20,000 would buy one a car years ago but would not buy much now. That is the reality of the world we…
As I said, the review of means testing will look at everything. It is income. It is like the SUSI grant, where parents work extremely hard all of the hours God sends them in preparation to send a child to college. Suddenly the parent is assessed on the previous year's income, which they had worked so hard to get. Unfortunately, when we have means testing there will be cut-off points. In changing the system, I raised the limit to the €750 mark. That change included a lot more people. However, when there is a cut-off…
I cannot be across every Department.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The child maintenance review group was established in 2020 to prepare a report on the current treatment within the Department of Social Protection of child maintenance payments, the current provisions relating to the liable relatives regarding child maintenance and the establishment of a child maintenance agency. These are very significant reforms of the social welfare system which will be of great benefit to lone parents. Introducing these changes requires amendments to p…