I agree with the Deputy that it is much better to repurpose, refurbish and reuse the town centre buildings. Let us face it, the power is connected, the water is connected and it is also connected to the sewerage, so we do not have all of those added costs that apply when a build is started outside the town. We have been working very hard with local authorities. Revitalising rural towns and villages is a central objective of Our Rural Future. The town and village renewal scheme was repurposed with provision for the …

The Deputy is right. There are buildings that are lying vacant for years and we are all wondering why something cannot be done about them. As the Deputy and I well know, CPO is a complicated process as it stands. If a project misses one stage on the ladder, it goes back to the start, and that slows it down and delays it. The Town Centre First policy framework does contain a range of actions designed to achieve these objectives, such as the social and economic revival in towns. We have appointed Town Centre First of…

My Department currently provides a number of funding streams that can be used for the improvement and development of community centres throughout the country. Under the 2022 town and village renewal scheme, where there is a clearly identified and defined need in a town or village that cannot be met by an existing premises, I have included a provision for funding for new-build community centres. The deadline for applications under the scheme was 22 July 2022 and I expect to be in a position to announce successful ap…

There are many community centres around the country, which is why we opened this scheme to refurbish existing facilities. There is no doubt that some of them need a good bit of work. During the Covid period, they were not able to fundraise and carry out the type of annual work they do. We now have this fund in place and it is very popular. We got more than 1,000 applications, which, when one adds them all up, amount to a funding request of €72 million. That is a large amount. There is a lot of interest in it and I …

I still have to announce the successful applications under the CCIF. The applications are being assessed and there is a lot of work in it. We are going to do it in three phases, with the smaller applications first, the results of which I hope to announce in October. That is the plan. They are all being processed and assessed independently and we hope to have the first announcements in October. I am working on a new fund for new centres. I take Deputy Connolly's point about the particular situation in Galway, which …

As is the case with the current LEADER programme, the subregional areas for the new programme will correspond with county boundaries. This alignment will help to ensure coherence of LEADER funding with other initiatives and policies delivered on a county basis, thus helping to deliver the best impact and value for money under LEADER. The county structure also allows for the most efficient allocation of funding across the country. The offshore islands will continue to be aligned with their relevant subregional area …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The additional needs payment is available to people if they have expenses they cannot pay from their weekly income. In response to the cost-of-living crisis, I have taken a number of steps to simplify the process of applying for this payment. These measures include making it clear that the payment is available to both social welfare recipients and families on low incomes, including persons who work 30 hours or more; updating the income guidelines in line with the working …

The Deputy raised the issue of the online application and that is why we are working on doing that. My officials are seeing how we can put it online for some people. I am trying to make it as easy as possible for people to access this payment. I understand some people do not want to have to meet somebody so we have a central phone line. If somebody cannot go to an Intreo office, he or she can ring up and make an appointment and the community welfare officer can visit the house, if that is what is needed. A person c…

I have done everything I can to make access to the community welfare officer as easy as possible. In terms of the Ukrainians who have come here, our social welfare staff have gone out and visited them. In terms of the numbers, between January and the end of May 2022, more than 27,800 additional needs payments were made, totalling almost €17 million. In the same period last year, 23,000 payments were made. That is a nearly 20% increase in the number of payments year on year for the first five months. I have ensured …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year. This scheme recognises the pressures families with schoolgoing children are under at this time of year, particularly given the cost-of-living challenges people are facing. This year I have increased the back-to-sc…

Any increase to capitation grants would be a matter for the Minister for Education. Free school transport will be a big boost for many families because it costs in the region of €500. That will be a big help to families who were facing that cost. It has been waived for this year so they will not have to worry. That will give them a bit of extra money that they can put towards the other costs of going back to school. To be fair, €260 for a child under 11 and €385 for a child 12 or older represents a good help. The p…

Over recent months, the Government has announced a package of €2.4 billion to help people meet the cost of living and the cost of fuel. I am the Minister for Social Protection and my priority is to assist those on low and fixed incomes and to keep people out of poverty. That is my number one priority. We have the working family payment. I understand that there are people who do not qualify for this payment. I accept that they are working hard but the best way to support them is through a comprehensive tax package. …

The issue of the cost of disability is broad and extends beyond the remit of the Department of Social Protection. This is why this important and much-needed research was carried out. The Cost of Disability in Ireland research report will now inform policy from a whole-of-government perspective. The Indecon report identified that additional costs of disability run across a number of areas of expenditure including housing, equipment, aids and appliances, care and assistance services, mobility, transport, communicatio…

This report on the cost of disability has implications right across Government and various Departments with regard to things such as access to services, healthcare, transport, mobility grants, the housing adaptation grants available through the local authorities and so on. There is a lot there. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is leading on the whole-of-government response through the disability inclusion strategy steering group, which she chairs. In fairness, there is no better woman than Deputy Rabbitte to…

My Department is working at present on a straw-man report as regards what this payment structure is like. The work is ongoing and very complex. The Deputy will appreciate it is also a very sensitive area. I hope we will have that report ready in the autumn. I will then be able to sit down with the various disability representative groups and the Minister of State and talk them through it because we want to get their views and input. The one thing I do not want to do is make changes in this area that do not have the…

The Indecon cost of disability report identified that the additional cost of disability is a wider issue than income supports and crosses a number of areas of expenditure. These include housing, equipment, aids and appliances, care and assistance services, mobility, transport, communications, medicines, and additional living expenses. The cost of disability can be defined as the amount it costs a person with a disability to achieve the same standard of living as a person without a disability. There is not a single …

There is no recommendation to do this in the Indecon report. It states that the worst outcome for people with disabilities would be giving a little to everyone. That is not what we should do. We need to target this. We are looking at doing this better, with a tiered approach to disability payments. For example, a person with a profound disability who might never be able to work would get a higher level of payment than a person with a more moderate disability who is able to work. That is a fairer, more sensible appr…

The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is heading a cross-departmental committee and leading the whole-of-government response through the disability inclusion strategy steering group, which she starts. In fairness to her, she is pushing that work on. She is a strong advocate and is passionate about the issue of disability. My Department is looking at the recommendations relating to the cost of disability payment. As I said earlier, we will develop a strawman proposal on that. I do not want to do so without consult…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 110 together. I thank the Deputy for raising this. The Parent's Leave and Benefit Act 2019 introduced two weeks of paid parent's leave for each parent to be taken in the first year after the birth or adoptive placement of a child. Following the commencement of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021, an additional three weeks of paid parent's leave is available to each parent, and the period in which the leave can be taken has been extended to the first two yea…

This is a demand-led scheme. I can assure the Deputy that the people who qualify and submit their applications will get the funding. There is no doubt about that. With regard to the numbers who have claimed this year, it is some 22,000 people already. We would expect that to double. Last year in 2021 it was 51,395 applications. Up to the end of May this year 27,488 claims were awarded. Given it was 51,020 in 2021 and 27,488 to the end of May this year, I would be very surprised if we do not exceed the figures from …