I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Government has committed to the continued support of working parents to achieve a better work-life balance. Parent’s leave and benefit falls into this category and encourages the sharing of parental responsibilities equally between couples. The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 introduced two weeks of paid parent’s leave for each parent of a child born or adopted after 1 November 2019. In budget 2021, this leave increased from two weeks to five weeks. Since these ch…

As I said, we are going to increase parent's leave and benefit to seven weeks this year. I think parent's benefit, to which the question related, is very important. It is important for parents to be with their children in their most formative years. They need that quality time. It is not easy when parents are out working and both parents have to work these days. It is good that this support is available for parents. To give the Deputy some statistics, 648 parents in her own county of Carlow received the parent's be…

From July 2022, parent's leave and benefit will increase from five weeks to seven weeks. I and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, who has responsibility for policy in this area, will undertake to do a communications campaign at that time to make sure people are aware of it. This is an important support for parents and it is something we want people to take up. I am delighted there was such an increase in the numbers of people availing of the support in 2021. I hope that in 2022,…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 85 together. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Farm assist is a statutory income support specifically for farmers on low incomes. There are approximately 4,800 claims in payment at present. The Government has provided €53.9 million for the scheme for 2022. The means assessment under farm assist is generous when compared with the means test applied under jobseeker's allowance for other self-employed individuals. Farmers also retain the advantages of jobseekers, such as…

Currently, approximately 4,800 farmers are in receipt of farm assist, compared with 5,500 in 2020, 6,000 in 2019 and 6,500 in 2018. This is a demand-led scheme and the numbers in receipt of a payment are falling, mainly due to the age profile of the customers. More than 70% of customers are aged 50 and over, more than half of the claimants are aged 55 and over, while 30% are aged 60 and over. I hope that the expansion of the scheme to include a lot of agri-environmental schemes means that more people will qualify. …

The other measures I mentioned, including the disregard for off-farm income, the capital disregard, depreciation and so forth, will be considered as part of the budget but obviously, there are constraints there. We definitely need to look at the means test. I never saw anything as complicated in my life, to be honest. I remember the late Seymour Crawford was an expert and a whizzer on them. People come in with a tin box full of receipts, not just for one year but for the previous three or four years and one tries t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and I commend the work of the Vincentian Partnership. We take on board many of its recommendations when compiling budgets. That is why in the most recent budget I was delighted to be able to introduce a broad range of measures to support carers. We increased the means threshold and the capital allowance. A great deal of work has been done in this area in order to improve the situation of carers. However, there is more to be done. Of course, we will take any reports of this …

I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising this matter. Our Rural Future is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in Ireland for decades. The policy contains more than 150 measures for delivery across the whole of government, with the underlying theme of economic, environmental and societal sustainability. The policy has a vision of ensuring vibrant and thriving rural towns and villages, with a key objective of maximising opportunities for individuals, communities and businesses in rural area…

As I said, the development of rural-proofing is a key commitment in Our Rural Future. We expect the consultants' report in the coming weeks. I have not seen the draft but when I get the final report I will consider it carefully. I want to make sure we put an effective model in place. We do not want it to be a box-ticking exercise. We have looked at the practice in other jurisdictions and I am aware that there is legislation in Northern Ireland in this regard. It is about how we collect the metrics and how we can ma…

I thank the Deputy. When I was appointed Minister in this Government I made the decision that the Department of Rural and Community Development would be kept as a stand-alone Department. That is a strong signal of this Government's commitment to rural development. It is a great Department and I am proud to be part of it. On rural-proofing, we need to find the formula that works for rural Ireland. There are many schemes that support rural Ireland that do not provide the same benefit in urban areas. There are a numbe…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Government's objective is that sustainable and vibrant communities can continue to live on the country's offshore islands. For this to be achieved, it is essential that investment is made in the maintenance and upgrading of island infrastructure. To this end, I have increased the allocation available for capital works on the islands from €2.64 million in 2021 to €4.64 million for 2022. The additional funding will ensure an expanded works programme this year. It will in…

I want to be clear about the Dursey Island cable car. This was a problem of Cork County Council's making. It made an announcement with no prior notice to my Department. It just said it was closing the cable car. I was pleased to step in at the last minute, last week. I was kept abreast of the matter. I worked hard with Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan and Senator Tim Lombard to find a solution. I provided funding to Cork County Council, which will procure a ferry service. It hopes to have an outcome from that procurem…

If you take away a service, you have a duty to put in a replacement. The council did not engage with us, but when it did, we got a solution. I recognise the work of Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan and Senator Lombard, who worked hard to find solutions. Regarding what I have done for the islands, there has been unprecedented investment in the islands. I was on Bere Island in the summer. I attended a Cabinet meeting remotely from a remote working hub on Bere Island. I went to visit a glamping facility that received inv…

I have visited a good few of the islands and I absolutely understand the concerns of the islanders. I have been there and listened to them.

I saw the video about the concerns of the people on Dursey Island. We responded when an approach was made to us.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As he is aware, the public service obligation, PSO, status of the air service to the Aran Islands lapsed some years ago. My Department is now bringing the service back into EU public service obligation regularity compliance. The procurement process is currently under way for the new contract. Once completed, it will bring long-term certainty of service to the island communities. The existing contract for the air service to the Aran Islands will continue in the interim to …

There is no proposal for an air service to Inishbofin. As I understand it, there is no particular demand for an air service there. In terms of the ferry service, a number of issues have been raised by the islanders. We have taken those on board. All contracts, as the Deputy knows, are procured through a tendering process and adhere to all procurement rules and regulations. All competitions are conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner. As part of any contract renewal, the Department seeks submissions from t…

As the Deputy is aware, the Government recently announced schemes that are designed to lessen the impact of the rise in the cost of living that is currently being experienced by all sections of our society. One such announcement includes a €54 million package that will see a 20% average fare reduction on PSO bus and rail services that are managed by the National Transport Authority, NTA, on behalf of the Government. That scheme does not extend to other transport contracts that are funded by the Department of Transp…

As I said, I have written to the Attorney General and I will await his advice on the issue. The Deputy can understand we do not want to cause difficulties with any procurement process that leaves us open to challenges.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 75, 110 and 138 together. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025 recognises the potential of remote working hubs as key economic assets for our rural towns and villages. Notwithstanding the clear benefits to individuals and families in terms of quality of life indicators, remote working from hubs will also support local economies, reduce carbon emissions and may arrest or reverse the depopulation of certain areas. In May last,…