I take this opportunity today to emphasise the importance of community work in all its various forms across the country. We invest in built infrastructure and in public services but infrastructure and public services do not, in and of themselves, create communities. The glue that pulls it all together is very often our community organisations and workers and, invariably, our volunteers. We do not always give this reality due recognition. The pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis have under…

I also acknowledge the work of the PPNs, which were initially established about ten years ago. They are independent bodies that operate in every local authority area. Their function is to make the connection between local policy development and local community and voluntary environmental bodies as well. My Department funds the PPN office in every local authority area. Because they are relatively new, we underwent a structural review recently and we have just completed the implementation plan on that. There were iss…

Unfortunately, it will not be of the scale they are looking for.

The Government is not opposing the motion put forward by the Deputies. I welcome the opportunity this morning to discuss the important issue of the carer supports provided by Department of Social Protection. I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this motion. It is a very timely discussion. Next Tuesday, the Government will be announcing a package of measures under budget 2025. As in previous years, in the run up to the budget the Minister for Social Protection and I have been advocating strongly on behalf of pe…

I thank the Deputy for his question. The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are more than one million customers with direct eligibility. In budget 2024 we expanded the free travel scheme to support people who are medically certified as unable to drive. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2024 is €104 million. The objective of the free travel scheme is to ensure older people and people with disabilities remain a…

I am aware of the case that has been made by the Good Shepherd service, which contacted me directly about this as well. I can see why someone who is trying to solve a particular problem would jump to the free travel pass from the Department of Social Protection. We looked into it. The school transport scheme is the obvious option and the question is how to bridge the gap between people in those situations and the school transport scheme. My understanding is that there was some engagement with Tusla which, on occasi…

I take the Deputy's point. We should look at every measure we can to alleviate the difficulties people in homeless accommodation experience. The review of school transport envisages that we would have an integrated system where school transport is connected to the public transport system so that, one way or another, every route in the public system would be available to whoever wants or needs it. That is worth exploring further. The policy aim of free travel in our Department is quite different from the aim of scho…

I cannot give that commitment here.

I thank the Senator for his question. Primarily it is the collective responsibility of a board of trustees. Issues can come to the regulator's attention when complaints are lodged by a member of the public or anyone else with the Charities Regulator. The regulator can engage collectively with the organisation if there are concerns around whether there has been proper governance. If the regulator is to be engaged, it would usually need to be brought to the regulator's attention unless there is something obvious in t…

I take the opportunity to record my thanks to all Members who engaged as part of the wider deliberative process. I extend my thanks to the Charities Regulator, which has worked closely with my Department in the preparation of this important legislation. In particular, I acknowledge the contributions of the community and voluntary sector, including The Wheel, the Charities Institute Ireland and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. I would also like to record my appreciation to officials in the Office of the Parlia…

I thank Senators for facilitating an early date for consideration of this important legislation. The Bill seeks to improve and update our civil registration legislation and associated registration processes. It will allow parents and bereaved families to use an online registration facility to register a birth, death or stillbirth online. In addition, the Bill proposes to update the criteria for stillbirths, revise procedures where a death has been referred to a coroner and provide for timely notification of deaths …

I thank all Senators who contributed to the discussion. I very much appreciate their support across the board for progressing the measures contained in the Bill. These measures, combined with the technical changes to the civil registration computer system, will have a positive impact on how the State’s civil registration service operates and interacts with our citizens. I want to give an initial response to the points made by Senator Wall. The answer is “Yes” in terms of efficiency. Certainly, the registration proc…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The objective of the school meals programme is to provide regular nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policy to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following a significant expansion in recent years, some 2,600 schools, covering 443,000 children, are now eligible for funding for a range of meal options under the school meals programme. T…

I take the opportunity to acknowledge the child-centred approach of St. Anne's special school. I read up about the school in advance, and it is to be commended on how it does things and works with children. I could read out all the statistics outlining the scale of the hot school meals programme. It is a very large-scale programme and we want to cover all schools eventually. The nature of that means that it works in a particular way. It does not fund the staff and if we were to get into that realm, it would become …

I am delighted to present this Bill, which is an essential step to enhance and strengthen the existing framework for regulating charities in Ireland. Our charity sector is an important and valued part of Irish society, playing an integral role in the provision of services to our communities. With just under 11,500 charities on the charities register, the work of the regulator is vitally important. The Bill delivers on a programme for Government commitment to ensure that the Charities Regulator has the necessary pow…

I thank Members for their contributions to this important debate. Our charities sector plays a crucial role in connecting the wider public with opportunities to support and improve communities and society at large. It also plays an integral role in the provision of services to our communities. The purpose of this Bill is to strengthen this valued sector, ensuring greater transparency, clarity and fairness, which will serve to enhance public confidence in the sector and will consolidate the existing legal framework …

I thank the Deputy for his question relating to plans to support the establishment and continued support of community councils throughout the country. A number of community council groups are established across the country. My Department has provided support to these organisations under a number of schemes. A range of other community development entities are also in place right across the country. All such groups can apply for funding from a range of schemes operated by my Department. I also note the importance of …

I take the Deputy's point on the position of the LCDCs. They are at a fairly high level. I will take the opportunity to again encourage small groups to join the local PPN because, when they are in there, they have a pass into what the local authority has available. I refer to staff and training but also the grants I mentioned with which we support them. I will also mention the volunteer centres. I mention them because they very often pair people with people who want to volunteer with a local group, particularly at …

In many respects, we have done what the Deputy is describing, albeit in a different way. The audit we have done is based on the CSO's small area population data. This is at the level of a large estate or a couple of hundred houses. We have based our audit not on what groups are in the area, but on socioeconomic deprivation. Two years ago, I launched the empowering communities programme. That targeted 14 of the most deprived areas across the country and placed a community worker in them, partly with a view to helpin…

I echo the Deputy's acknowledgment of the community's efforts and the community's backing of the Ukrainians living there. We see this across the country. It does not get coverage. Maybe in situations such as this it does, but this is the story across the country. There are compliance issues. We have to take them very seriously. That said, we have been cognisant of the fact that people have started lives in the community. In particular as regards the exam situation the Deputy mentioned, we have brought that into pla…