Written Answers Nos. 295-315
295. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the school lunch programme for rural schools, especially in Kerry, as rural schools are faced with a lack of providers for the school lunch programme as the distance is prohibitive; if she will increase the funding for this service in rural schools to reflect the distances from local providers to the schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18258/25]
View answerThe 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 policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement.
Funding under the programme is solely for food.
My Department has engaged with a number of schools that have been unable to secure a hot meals supplier due to their location, facilities or space. These schools have been advised to contact local caterers or supermarkets or try to source a local supplier that could provide a lunch with drink as an alternative to a hot meal. In such circumstances, many of these schools have been able to provide school meals to their pupils.
If the schools as referred to by the Deputy have any questions in relation to this matter, they can contact officials of my Department at school.meals@welfare.ie . They will advise them of the meal options available to them and assist with any queries they may have.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
296. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has decided to review supports for workers who are put on short-time work in the context of the impact on workers and businesses of the tariffs announced by the US President on 2 April; if he will consider introducing a scheme similar to the German Kurzarbeit scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18269/25]
View answerThe Department provides support for workers on Short-Time Work under the Jobseeker's Benefit scheme. This is an income support payment for those who have been temporarily placed on a shorter working week by their employer and which has worked effectively in response to challenges facing businesses.
For example, if a person's working week has been reduced from a 5 day work pattern to a 3 day work pattern, they may be paid a Short-Time Work Support payment for the 2 days of work that have been lost. Unlike other Jobseeker’s Benefit payments, a key benefit is that the payment for Short-Time working is not taxable. Further details on this support are available on the Government's website.
The Department will continue to monitor the supports available in line with the prevailing economic conditions.
I trust this clarify the matters for the Deputy.
297. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is considering a PRSI rebate for SME’s to help them deal with increased costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18284/25]
View answerIn general, the issue of targeted supports for businesses is a matter for the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
There are no proposals for a PRSI rebate for SMEs. Any changes to the PRSI employer rates or threshold would have to be considered in a budgetary context, taking account of the economic circumstances and with a view to the sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund.
The Deputy might note that the employer PRSI threshold, at which the higher rate of employer PRSI becomes payable, was increased from €441 to €496 per week with effect from 1 October 2024. The threshold was further increased to €527 per week from 1 January 2025. The effect of these threshold increases is that employers with employees earning the weekly equivalent of the national minimum wage pay the lower rate of employer PRSI rate (8.9%), rather than the higher rate (11.15%).
I trust this clarifies the matter.
298. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if his Department will provide more clarity on the availability of welfare priority for care leavers under exceptional social grounds in situations where they are at risk of homelessness. [18299/25]
View answerThe primary responsibility for housing and managing homelessness lies with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the local authorities. This responsibility includes the accommodation needs of young persons leaving all forms of State care.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has responsibility for after care provision, for young people leaving care. Currently, those care-leavers who are at risk of homelessness are assisted by the Child and Family Agency, in partnership with other Government Departments or agencies.
My department is acutely aware of the challenges faced by people who are homeless. There is a protocol in place to ensure a person-focused and effective approach is applied where individuals and families who are homeless seek assistance in any of my Department’s offices across the country. It is important to note, that a person does not need a permanent address to apply for a social welfare payment or service, or to receive a social welfare payment.
Jobseeker’s Allowance may be payable by my department to young people aged 18 years where they satisfy the conditions of the scheme. The Deputy is advised that age related rates do not apply to young jobseeker’s who were in the care of The Child and Family Agency for any period of time during the 12 months immediately before their 18th birthday. The standard rate of personal Jobseeker’s Allowance of €244 per week is payable in these circumstances.
In addition, Rent Supplement continues to play a key role in supporting families and individuals in private rented accommodation. The scheme provides short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The scheme ensures that those who were renting, but whose circumstances have changed can continue to meet their rental commitments.
Furthermore, Additional Needs Payment are also available to assist those who have essential expenses, such as rent deposits, rent in advance and household bills, that they cannot pay from their weekly income.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
299. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reasoning for having a cut-off point of 28 March for the pay-related job benefits scheme; why people who lost their jobs before this date are excluded from the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18347/25]
View answerJobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit is a new social insurance income support, linked to previous earnings, which has replaced the Jobseeker's Benefit scheme for people whose first day of unemployment is on or after 31 March 2025. This means that in order to be eligible to apply for the scheme, a person's last day of employment must have been on or after Friday 28 March 2025.
A commencement date is required for the introduction of any new scheme. The Commencement Order provides that this scheme comes into operation on 31 March 2025. The scheme is available to those whose unemployment begins on or after this date as provided for in section 68KB(1)(d) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended.
The existing Jobseeker's Benefit scheme is available for people who became fully unemployed before that date and such customers will remain on Jobseeker's Benefit until they return to employment or their benefit runs out, subject to the normal rules of that scheme.
A person who is experiencing financial difficulty may have an entitlement to an Additional Needs Payment from the Department of Social Protection to help meet essential expenditure which an eligible person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income. These payments are means tested and administered by the Community Welfare Service considering the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case.
I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
300. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will outline the steps his Department is taking to improve data collection and database construction in anticipation of the increased data processing capacity that artificial intelligence adoption entails; if he will outline the logic behind their approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18367/25]
View answerMy Department has no current requirement for a data collection and database construction in anticipation of the presumed increased data processing capacity that artificial intelligence adoption entails.
301. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will identify any projects which the Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18384/25]
View answerMy Department does not currently have any projects underway with the company referred to.
302. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will identify any projects which a body under the aegis of his Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; if he will send this question to the bodies for direct response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18402/25]
View answerThere are four bodies under the aegis of my Department; The Citizens Information Board, The Pensions Authority, The Pensions Council and The Social Welfare Tribunal. All of these bodies have confirmed that they do not have any projects with the company referred to.
303. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will specify the specific policy areas where the Department is examining future use of AI; if he will identify what entities the Department is working with, public or private, in relation to this examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18419/25]
View answerMy Department is currently examining the potential future use of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) technologies. This has involved active participation in several stakeholder groups, such as, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's working group on the implementation of EU AI Act.
The use of A.I. is not currently being examined by any policy area in my Department.
304. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will identify any AI training offered to people working in the Department; the level of take-up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18436/25]
View answerMy Department has not developed its own training in relation to AI. However, staff in the Department may avail of training courses on Artificial Intelligence provided by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Institute of Public Administration, or other providers.
305. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will detail how many physical letters the Minister’s offices and the customer service team in the Department received from the public in 2024; whether those letters are digitised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18461/25]
View answerMy Department provides a range of supports including approximately 87 million individual payments, over 3 million income support applications and over 900,000 employment support activities each year. Customers may contact my Department through a range of channels. This includes by phone, post, email and online via MyWelfare.
Data is not collated on the number of letters received from the public to the Minister's office and the customer service mailbox.
306. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will detail how many emails the Minister’s offices and the customer service mailbox the Department received from the public in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18478/25]
View answerMy Department provides a range of supports including approximately 87 million individual payments, over 3 million income support applications and over 900,000 employment support activities each year. Customers may contact my Department through a range of channels. This includes by phone, post, email and online via MyWelfare.
A breakdown of emails received from the public specifically to the Minister's office and the customer service mailbox is not available.
307. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will detail whether any surveys have been carried out to estimate the amount of time taken up with administrative tasks where such time could be used more efficiently; if so, in which areas of the Department has this examination been carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18495/25]
View answerMy Department's business priorities are to continually improve services to customers in an agile
manner to best meet the needs of our customers in a cost-effective and efficient manner and to support the delivery of Government policy.
My Department, as an ongoing focus, uses business process review and improvement as well as technology to achieve efficiencies and to alleviate or eliminate repetitive administrative tasks, speeding up processes for customers, and facilitating staff to undertake work of higher value.
My Department is currently undertaking a significant workforce planning project to identify and forecast necessary skills, resources and gaps to support staff recruitment and development. In developing this strategic plan, it is important to capture and understand how work is currently done and the ways of working of a number of key operational areas have been assessed to identify further opportunities to drive efficiency and effectiveness. My Department is also implementing a comprehensive digital strategy, providing schemes and services online as an effective channel of choice for customers. The focus on improvement to maximise efficiency is an ongoing priority across my Department.
308. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Justice the number of Gardaí assigned to County Wexford, by rank, in each of the years from 2020 to 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18117/25]
View answerI am informed by Garda authorities that when allocating and transferring Garda members to and from any Division, consideration is given to commitments and undertakings outlined in the Annual Policing Plan and priorities as determined in delivering ‘A Policing Service for The Future’.
In the interest of transparency, figures related to the Garda workforce are published on my Department's website. This information is supplied by An Garda Síochána, is operational and subject to change. These figures are regularly updated by my Department, upon receipt of the information from the Garda authorities.
Information in relation to the allocation of Gardaí by Rank for each Garda division, including a breakdown of the years 2020 up to January 2025 in the Wexford/Wicklow division, is publicly available and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures/.
309. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Justice if he will review a case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18207/25]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that any non-EEA national student who is enrolled on a course or a Degree Programme from the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) is allowed to undertake an internship. However, this must form part of their course and contribute towards the final award.
For those studying on a Stamp 3 immigration permission, an internship, once forming part of the course and contributing to the final course award, would be regarded as part of their studies and not considered employment.
Similarly, for those studying on Stamp 2 immigration permission, an internship, where it is integral to a programme and regarded as part of their studies, would not be categorised as other employment and therefore does not affect the terms of the Stamp 2 permission.
Colleges and educational institutions should provide a letter of confirmation to the student and their employer to show that the internship is part of a particular programme, which is listed on the ILEP. The working hours and conditions while participating in the internship must be in accordance with employment law provisions.
I can advise the Deputy that officials from my Department will be in contact with the person concerned in due course regarding any outstanding appeal on their application.
As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.
310. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Justice if there is an update regarding the withholding of funds from an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18221/25]
View answerAt the outset, it is important to note that, as Minister, I do not comment on individual Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) applications.
I can, however, inform the Deputy that my Department does not receive or hold funds at any stage in the IIP process; this is a private matter between a potential investor(s) and a potential project concerned.
The IIP Unit of my Department communicates with projects seeking to benefit from investments made in connection with an IIP application in relation to how the terms of the programme apply to their particular project. The Unit also engages with projects and monitors them for their compliance with the IIP requirements.
311. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Justice if he will expedite an Irish citizenship application for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18266/25]
View answerThe naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department.
I can also advise the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department have recently issued correspondence to the person concerned requesting some further information.
I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants, particularly considering the current processing times. I want to assure anyone who has an application for naturalisation submitted that the Citizenship Division of my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible.
It is important to note that no two naturalisation applications are the same and some take longer than others to process.
Given the importance of citizenship, robust and comprehensive checks must take place on each application. Unfortunately, some international checks can take a considerable amount of time and these are largely out of the control of the Immigration Service.
Citizenship Division have also taken a significant number of steps to speed up the process for applicants. These included introducing an online digital application, online payments, and the introduction of eVetting. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that these changes are dramatically reducing processing times.
The length of time taken to process an application has dropped from 15 months in 2023, to 8 months in 2024.
The person concerned can now directly check the status of their immigration application on the Immigration Service’s new Digital Contact Centre (DCC). They can register for, or log in to their existing account, at: https://portal.irishimmigration.ie/en/.
As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.
312. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Justice if he will expedite the issuing of a GNIB visa in respect of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18268/25]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that an online application for renewal of immigration permission for the person concerned was approved on 3 April 2025. An Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card will be issued by post to the person cited within 10-15 working days of the date of approval. As these card are manufactured offsite, this process cannot be expedited.
As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process.
313. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 547 of 25 March 2025, if the information could be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18301/25]
View answerI refer to Parliamentary Question No. 547 of 25 March 2025 where you sought:
“To ask the Minister for Justice the number of CCTV cameras located within the Dublin metropolitan region operated by An Garda Síochána between 2020 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter."
As you will recall, I sought the information from the Garda authorities and undertook to contact you again once the information was to hand.
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that there are currently 209 CCTV Cameras in the Dublin Metropolitan area, which are authorised by the Garda Commissioner.
The quantity of cameras varies from time to time as a result of moves, additions and due to changes resulting from building works in Dublin.
The table below provides a breakdown of the number of cameras across Dublin.
|
Locations |
No. of Cameras |
|
Dun Laoghaire |
12 |
|
Finglas |
9 |
|
Finglas Cabra |
8 |
|
Corduff |
8 |
|
Finglas extension |
8 |
|
Clondalkin |
13 |
|
Ballyfermot |
18 |
|
Tallaght |
35 |
|
Pearse Street |
33 |
|
North Inner City |
8 |
|
North Inner City additional |
13 |
|
O'Connell Street |
44 |
|
Total |
209 |
314. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice if he plans to roll out live facial recognition technology as a policing tactic; the safeguards that will be put in place to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18323/25]
View answerAn Garda Síochána needs modern tools and equipment to protect people from harm and save lives.
The Programme for Government includes a commitment to allow for the use of biometric technologies in certain, very controlled circumstances as a tool to process evidence in serious cases.
Work is well advanced on the drafting of a Bill to amend the Recording Devices Act to provide for retrospective use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition (FRT). The General Scheme of the Recording Devices (Amendment) Bill, published in 2023, provides for the ethical use of FRT in limited circumstances only.
The Bill will provide for use of FRT, but that use will be subject to regular review and the results will require further examination by a specially trained member of Garda personnel. Garda use of this technology will also be subject to codes of practice which will set out the very high standards of data protection and human rights control required.
This underscores our commitment to ensuring that use in this jurisdiction will mirror best practice from the wide range of EU Member States which are already utilising this technology.
This Bill will not provide for the use of live FRT. However, the Programme for Government commits to introduce live FRT in cases of terrorism, national security, and missing persons, with strict safeguards. This will be considered for inclusion in a subsequent Bill.
315. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Justice for a complete breakdown of the number of young persons referred to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme by Garda district in Dublin for the past 10 years, in tabular form. [18326/25]
View answerI have requested the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda authorities. Regrettably, this was not available in time and I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.
