That was a bugbear of mine. My number was changed to the same as my husband's with a "w" on the end of it. That is quite some time ago. I got another PPS number a good number of years ago. I do not know if there are many cases where people have not got the new PPS number. I imagine they are few and far between but I will check it out to make sure people are aware they got one in their own right. I do not know why we ever had to be attached in that manner. They were changed and now, thankfully, they are changed back…

I thank the Deputy. Carer's benefit is a payment of up to two years' duration made to people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person in need of full-time care. Under the provisions of the legislation, to be eligible to claim carer's benefit, a claimant must have paid PRSI contributions in classes A, B, C, D, E or H. Self-employed workers who pay social insurance contributions at the class S rate of 4% are not eligible for carer's benefit. For a first claim, the …

We cannot change the principle that benefits are paid to the contributor. As the Deputy mentioned, the means-tested carer's allowance is available. The means test has a generous disregard of €665 for a couple. I understand that there are difficult situations, but we have extended supports for the self-employed. For example, they can now get jobseeker's benefit. This is why many self-employed have been able to benefit from the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, which is only right and proper. Many extra benefits ha…

Yes. That would entail expanding further the benefits relating to a class S stamp. I always want to consider how to review and improve, but this could result in the contribution increasing, given that the benefit is commensurate with the stamp paid. I will consider the proposal and I would be happy to engage with the Deputy.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 34 and 53 together. We know from past recessions that young people tend to be disproportionately impacted by any labour market shock. This is because many employers operate a last in, first out protocol when reducing their labour forces and young people tend to work in occupations and sectors that are most immediately affected by economic downturns, for example, retail and hospitality. Research recently published by my Department shows that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic ha…

We are absolutely committed to working closely with young people to get them back to work and help them do that. We will, therefore, have the Pathways to Work strategy and I will be launching that early next year. We will significantly ramp up the number of places available on training and employment support schemes. There will be 35,000 extra training places and 10,000 new apprenticeships. That is being led by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and as I said earlier, …

I am sorry, engagement with whom?

We have the employability service to work with young people and others with disabilities to get them back to work. I am happy to engage with the Open Door Initiative as well. We want to increase the number of people being referred to the local employment services by approximately 50% next year. We will also be tendering to extend the service into several geographical areas which do not have those services. I have spoken to the local development companies to advise them this will be up for tender and I will be encou…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “notes that: — the Programme for Government ‘Our Shared Future’ has committed to maintaining the State Pension as the bedrock of the Irish pension system; — this includes a commitment to establish a Commission on Pensions and pending the report of that Commission to maintain the State Pension age at 66; — the Government has already established this Commission on Pensions; — the Commission on Pensions has already conducted…

Sinn Féin would be better served working constructively to improve the conditions of those people rather than tabling motions on issues that this Government is already dealing with comprehensively.

Go raibh maith agat a Cheann Comhairle. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak today on the work being carried out by my Department. At the outset, I acknowledge the work of my predecessor, the former Minister, Deputy Ring. It is worth remembering that when the Department of Rural and Community Development was established back in 2017, it did not even have a building to call their own. What was achieved by the Minister, Deputy Ring, and his officials in the three years since means there is now a well-run D…

I thank all Deputies who contributed. Although we do not always agree on everything in this Chamber, the interest in this debate shows that there is a strong passion on all sides of the House for rural and community development. As Minister, I have had the opportunity to witness at first hand the vision, commitment and energy which is present in communities across the country. Those communities, led by hard-working volunteers, deliver a significant amount for society. With the right supports and opportunities, I be…

I have no hesitation in standing before the House this evening to express my full confidence in the Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar. I do stand here, however, feeling a deep sense of dismay as 2020 has been one of the most difficult years for this country. It is a year that has seen almost 2,000 people lose their lives as a result of Covid and has seen families across the country suffer from unthinkable heartache and grief. Yet, with all the challenges this country faces there is one party in the Chamber that is more…

Talk to Breege Quinn, Austin Stack and the families of Columba McVeigh or Tom Oliver. They will tell you what Sinn Féin's truth is about. Sinn Féin criticises the Government's response to Covid on a daily basis when in Northern Ireland where it is in power people are struggling with one of the highest rates of the virus in Europe. Its talks about honesty and integrity, when it had tens of thousands of pounds of Covid support money that was meant for small businesses lodged into Sinn Féin accounts. And then, when it…

I thank Deputy Carthy, my constituency colleague, for raising this issue. The pandemic unemployment payment has been a vital support for hundreds of thousands of workers and their families throughout Covid-19. Since March, my Department has issued over 12 million payments to over 800,000 people. A total of €4 billion has been paid out under the scheme to date. I wish to acknowledge the staff in the Department of Social Protection for the extraordinary work they have put in since March to ensure that payments have b…

I will stick to the issue at hand. I reassure the Deputy that my Department is doing everything in its power to process payments as quickly as possible. The vast majority of claims have been put into payment without any issue. This week, for example, PUP payments have issued to more than 342,000 people. I am advised that there was an issue with about 1% of the total claims. When that happens the Department contacts the individuals involved, and when they provide the necessary information they are put into payment. …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Action Plan for Rural Development 2017-2019 was a whole-of-government initiative to support the economic and social progress of rural Ireland. One of the objectives of the plan was to support enterprise growth and job creation in rural areas. A key target of the action plan was to increase the number of people in employment outside of the Dublin region by 135,000 by 2020, using 2015 as the baseline. Between 2015 and 2019, employment in the regions increased by 222,400 …

The northern and western regions have been recognised as regions in transition and I was glad to receive conformation from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, that the Northern and Western Regional Assembly will be implementing the relevant funding on behalf of the Government. That is important because we want to see funding targeted at the area. It is also important that local people are involved in that because they know where the funding needs to go and what difficulties need …

On a local level, I can tell the Deputy that in Galway alone, 1,182 jobs were supported by local enterprise offices in 2019. A total of 897 jobs were supported by local enterprise offices in Roscommon. I do not have the figures for Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. The regional enterprise development fund, which comes from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, is specifically targeted at strengthening the regions. Some €16.7 million was invested under that fund since late 2017, early 2018. All that f…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which is something that I have a keen interest in. While many people are currently working from home to reduce the spread of Covid-19, recent research by the Western Development Commission, WDC, and the National University of Ireland Galway, NUIG, has highlighted a growing interest from people in continuing to work remotely in the longer term, at least part of the time availing of co-working facilities. Remote working has the potential to transform rural Ireland, allowing p…