I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. This proposal does not require legislation. The back to education allowance is an administrative scheme. If there is a specific case the Deputy wants me to examine, I am happy to sit down and speak with either him or Deputy Sherlock about it. I am just not sure what he was getting at. I was very keen for us to continue paying students who found themselves out of work because of the restrictions. They lost their jobs the same as everybody else. Now that they have gone back…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and acknowledge Deputy Kerrane tabled a similar amendment, which we will get to shortly. The amendment before us concerns a very broad measure that relates to many schemes in my Department but also concerns matters beyond my Department's remit, including potentially wider, constitutional matters. Entering into a marriage or civil partnership is a legal act that confers both rights and obligations on both parties that do not exist in law between cohabiting couples. As the De…

Benefits such as maternity benefit are paid at the same rate, which is currently €245 per week. Any proposal to change the rate of payment can be considered only in the overall budgetary context. As a result of budget changes provided for in the Bill, there will be a €5 increase in all core working-age weekly payments, including maternity, paternity, adoptive and parent's benefit, from January 2022. The new rate of payment will be €250 per week. Over time, parent's leave and benefit will increase to nine weeks for …

I thank the Deputy. This is an issue we will examine. To find the correct solution, we have to look at it in the broader context. We will feed in the report to the committee that has been set up and it will examine the issue.

I move amendment No. 18: In page 18, line 23, after “Benefit” to insert “and Jobseeker’s Benefit (self-employed)”.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Deputies for their co-operation on this Bill. I also thank colleagues for the work they have done over the past year. Sometimes we might not agree on the process or on certain points but, ultimately, we all have the same aim at heart, which is to help and support citizens in their time of need. In addition, I thank the staff of the Department of Social Protection, who are a wonderful group of people. Whether based in Dublin or up and down the length and breadth of the country, they h…

The turnaround time for appeals in the Department has improved over the most recent period. I have brought to Cabinet a request, as reflected in the social protection legislation I am bringing through at the moment, to allow for the appointment of two more registered officers for appeals purposes. That should help to improve any delays. In fairness, the turnaround time has improved considerably over the past number of months.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. In the recent budget, I made some changes in respect of those on disability payments in order that they can earn more without it affecting their payments. I will have to take the particular issue the Deputy raised away with me and I will revert to her.

I move: That Dáil Éireann hereby refers the carbon budget prepared pursuant to section 6A of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Acts 2015 to 2021, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 6th December, 2021, to fulfil the requirements of section 6B(1)(a) of the Acts, to the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action, which shall, pursuant to section 6B(2) of the Acts, report its recommendations to both Houses of the Oireachtas within two months from the date when copies of said carbon budg…

The Government clearly recognises the vital role that LEADER plays in delivering impactful rural development projects at local level and it will continue to support investment in rural Ireland. In the 2014-20 CAP programming period, €250 million was allocated to LEADER. For the seven-year programming period from 2021 to 2027, this funding allocation will be maintained. It is comprised of €70 million provided for the transitional period from 2021 to 2022, and the recently announced indicative allocation of €180 mill…

I met the CEOs of all the LEADER groups just last week. It was a very positive engagement and gave me a good opportunity to hear a lot of what they had to say directly and to allow them to outline to me the really good work they are carrying out in their areas. Martina Earley, from the Roscommon LEADER Partnership in the Deputy's neck of the woods, outlined to me the different issues she had, as well as the great work they are doing down there. In fairness, there is confusion about this LEADER budget but the one th…

Between 2007 and 2014 is some time ago. The 2014 to 2022 allocation was €250 million and this programme is also worth €250 million. The €70 million transition programme is over two years, that is, this year and next year. It would be fair to say you would expect to have around 50% of that already spent. According to our records, we have approvals of €16 million, which really only represents about 33% of the budget. Some of the LEADER companies are performing very well in getting their money out and others are not d…

I will answer the question I have here which was on the mobile phone and broadband task force. The issue the Deputy referred is probably more suitable to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan.

I understand the Deputy's interest in the task force and the fact it should be reconvened because we worked together on it when it was first established and we achieved much. That task force addressed 70 actions between 2016 and 2019. These spanned a mix of practical and policy approaches that have removed significant barriers to the deployment of telecoms services in the State. The previous task force clearly delivered real benefits and impact. There is now more information available to consumers to help them to c…

As the Deputy knows, part of the work of the task force was to appoint broadband officers in every single local authority in the country. They were in contact with the service providers and there was much good work done on the ground. As I said, 70 actions were completed. That collaboration still takes place today. The last task force completed its work programme at the end of 2019. At that stage plans for a reformatted task force were well advanced but were very much of their time. Since then a new Government has …

I will outline the specific actions that will be discussed and agreed with members before we publish our work programme for the task force for 2022 to 2024. The following broad areas are within the scope of discussion: permits, consents and planning permission, mapping and register of assets, geographic mobile coverage, consumer information and innovation, and proof of concept projects. Working with the broadband officers' role, which was something the original task force outlined, my Department has provided more t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As she will be aware, the LEADER programme is one of the key interventions of Our Rural Future, the Government’s policy for rural development launched earlier this year. An indicative budget of €180 million was recently announced for the LEADER programme for the period 2023 to 2027. When taken together with the €70 million already provided for 2021 and 2022 under the transitional LEADER programme, a total of €250 million will be made available, thus maintaining the level …

It is important to say that when LEADER was introduced, many years ago, it was the only show in town for funding projects in rural Ireland. That is no longer the case. We have a whole swathe of funding streams to support rural communities. In my Department, we have the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme and the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme. Many of those schemes offer higher grant aid than that available under LEADER. We also have specific funding streams to sup…

I believe that the LEADER programme is adequately funded. LEADER complements all the other funding programmes. It is about people working together. That is where we get the results. The Deputy mentioned the Border. Not alone do we have the regional enterprise development fund, we have the Border enterprise development fund, which is specifically for the Border region because of the impacts of Brexit. That is run by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The local enterprise offices do great work with b…

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter and I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 63 and 78 together. My Department continues to support the development of remote working hubs throughout the country. Our Rural Future commits to investing significantly in remote working facilities and to examining the potential to introduce specific incentives to encourage remote workers to relocate to rural areas, as part of budget 2022. I have instructed my officials to examine options for such an incentive mechanism, building…