Written Answers Nos. 199-218
199. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Taoiseach the current status of the implementation of the recommendations of the Expert Group on Conveyancing and Probate and the timeline for the implementation of each recommendation. [16858/26]
View answer200. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Taoiseach whether he will consider introducing defined timelines for conveyancing in the Best Practice Charter for Solicitors and Estate Agents in Conveyancing, developed by the Expert Group on Conveyancing and Probate, to improve efficiency and certainty in conveyancing and if he will legislate for timelines in the event that objectives are not achieved with reducing timelines. [16859/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 199 and 200 together.
In December 2023, an Expert Group was established, under Housing for All to review conveyancing and probate processes in Ireland from a user perspective and recommend changes, implementable quickly and easily, to reduce costs and delays for home-purchasers.
Following publication of the Expert Group’s Report, Government approved the establishment of an Implementation Group on Conveyancing and Probate tasked with beginning the implementation of short-term recommendations, as well as developing a detailed programme to implement the full set of recommendations.
This Group, comprised an independent Chair, along with the following membership:
• D/Taoiseach
• D/Justice
• D/Housing, Local Government and Heritage
• Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
• Tailte Éireann
• Courts Service
• Legal Services Regulatory Authority
• Property Services Regulatory Authority
• Law Society of Ireland
• Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers
• Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland
• Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.
The Group met on eight occasions between 23rd September 2024 and 24th November 2025.
Substantial progress has been achieved towards implementing the short-term recommendations set out. This includes the development of a step-by-step guide/public information pack for prospective buyers (gov.ie), and a Best Practice Charter, setting out principles of best practice for the main professions involved.
Work on implementation of remedial steps to reduce or eliminate key known delays in third-party information provision or certification has been advanced considerably. This includes a revision to the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code which contains a new requirement for banks, retail credit firms and credit servicing firms relating to the provision of title deeds within 10 working days.
Options to get more titles registered in the Land Registry more quickly and to expedite the registration of properties/transfer of deeds have also been brought forward. It has been agreed in principle that legislation will be prepared to support increased use of Statements of Truth in the conveyancing process.
A number of items are ongoing, which will bring further progress. This includes the development of Codes of Practice for solicitors and estate agents dealing primarily with the need to advise vendors on a set of information to be collated as early as possible in the conveyancing process.
The Implementation Group has progressed a proposal for a potential eConveyancing system for Ireland, with the drafting of a Handover Pack providing extensive consideration on key issues.
In parallel to conveyancing reforms, the Courts Service has rolled out a reform programme to the probate process, which has seen significant reduction in processing times. The development of an eProbate system, which is expected to be rolled out nationally by the end of March 2026, will further reduce processing times and delays in the probate process.
The Implementation Group will report to Government shortly on progress, along with recommended next steps to further advance the recommendations.
201. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the most recent meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in support of Ukraine. [16350/26]
View answerI attended an online meeting of the Coalition of the Willing on 24 February to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, co-chaired by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and President of France Emmanuel Macron, and joined by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and other Leaders.
The meeting re-affirmed the Coalition’s resolve to continue to support Ukraine until a peace agreement is achieved, including through helping improve its capacity to defend itself and protect and repair its energy infrastructure; and through increasing pressure on Russia to encourage it to engage in meaningful negotiation through imposing further sanctions and disrupting its shadow fleet.
We discussed how the Coalition of the Willing can support efforts to secure peace, including the negotiations involving the US, Russia and Ukraine, and how the Coalition can ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position in those talks.
In my intervention, I reiterated Ireland’s commitment to supporting efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine. I underlined Ireland’s consistent position that it is for the people and Government of Ukraine to determine their future and I reiterated Ireland’s strong support for Ukraine’s path towards EU membership. I joined other leaders in strongly condemning the continued attacks on civilians and critical energy infrastructure.
202. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach he will report on his Department’s Statement of Strategy for 2025-2028. [16351/26]
View answerThe Department of the Taoiseach's Statement of Strategy 2025-2028 was approved by Government on 7 October 2025 and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 10 December 2025.
The Statement of Strategy outlines the Department’s vision, mission, values, core responsibilities and key activities, and policy priorities over the period 2025 – 2028.
The Department's mission is to support the Taoiseach and the Government, including implementation of the Programme for Government, through principled leadership and joined-up governance by:
• Coordinating government activity to ensure effective, inclusive, and timely decision-making;
• Providing impartial, high-quality policy advice in the national interest;
• Upholding democratic integrity, civil service values, and public trust at the centre of government; and
• Promoting a strategic, sustainable, long-term perspective that safeguards Ireland’s future prosperity, cohesion, and resilience.
The core responsibilities and key activities of the Department encompass:
• Executive Leadership and Government Coordination;
• Legislative, Parliamentary and Constitutional Duties;
• Policy Coherence and Whole-of-Government Perspective;
• State Protocol and Commemorations;
• Public Communications and Information, Emergency Management and Civic Engagement; and
• Civil/Public Service Leadership and Renewal.
Supporting implementation of the Programme for Government is at the core of the Department's mission.
The policy priorities outlined in the Statement of Strategy – which align with the commitments contained in the Programme for Government – include:
• Housing;
• Infrastructure;
• Disability;
• Children and Education;
• Economy, Trade and Competitiveness;
• Climate Action, Environment and Energy;
• Health;
• Justice, Migration and Social Affairs;
• EU and International Affairs;
• Northern Ireland;
• National Security; and
• Water Quality.
The Strategy sets out how the Department will progress work in all the above areas, including through the Cabinet Committee structure and its related Senior Officials’ Groups.
The Department's Annual Reports over the period 2025 - 2028 provide a mechanism to report progress made on the policy priorities outlined in the Statement of Strategy.
The Statement of Strategy is published on gov.ie in both Irish and English.
203. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach the percentage of parent’s benefit in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 that was topped up by an employer. [16409/26]
View answer204. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach the number of mothers that had their parents benefit topped up by their employer in 2025. [16410/26]
View answer205. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach the number of fathers that had their parents benefit topped up by their employer in 2025. [16411/26]
View answer206. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach the percentage of paternity leave that was topped up by employers in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. [16488/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 203, 204, 205 and 206 together.
Referred to CSO for answer
The following response addresses PQ Nos. 16409, 16410, 16411 and 16488 regarding statistics on employer top-ups to Parents benefit and Paternity benefit.
Pay comparisons for certain benefit recipients can be made using an estimated average weekly pay from before, during and after a benefit was claimed.
Due to the flexibility around when, and for how long, an individual may take blocks of Parents Leave, it is not possible to derive pay comparisons in this manner. As such, the data requested is not available.
In the case of Paternity benefit, the short duration of the benefit means it is not possible to derive pay comparisons in this manner. As such, the data requested is not available.
The CSO publication “Employment Analysis of Maternity and Paternity Benefits” contains data on those that were in receipt of Maternity, Paternity and Parents Benefit and was first published in June 2020 with a follow up release in May 2023 as part of the CSO’s Frontier Series Outputs. CSO Frontier Series may use new methods which are under development and / or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources.
207. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Taoiseach to list all schemes, funding programmes, capital funds, grant streams or other expenditure headings administered by his Department in 2025 and 2026 which result in allocations, awards, or spending that can be identified with a specific geographical location including county, district, town, or project site, to group these by funding stream or programme heading; to indicate, for each scheme, whether details of allocations or awards are published online; and if so, where such information may be accessed. [16559/26]
View answerThe Department of the Taoiseach does not directly administer any schemes, funding programmes, capital funds, grant streams or other similar expenditure headings.
208. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Taoiseach to provide the web link to his Department’s Q4 2025 published report of purchase orders/payments over €20,000, in line with the FOI model publication scheme requirements; the date on which this report was published; and if it has not yet been published, the planned publication date. [16577/26]
View answerThe Department of the Taoiseach’s Q4 2025 report detailing Purchase Orders exceeding €20,000 is available at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/collections/purchase-orders-in-excess-of-20000-in-2025/.
This report was published on 28 January 2026.
209. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Taoiseach to confirm, in respect of his Department’s published quarterly reports of procurement-related payments or purchase orders over €20,000 (details supplied), where such reports are published in PDF format but originate from an Excel or similar spreadsheet file, that the underlying data was fully expanded and validated prior to conversion so that all columns including supplier names and descriptions are fully visible and readable in the published document; to clarify whether any quality assurance process is applied to ensure that data is not truncated or partially obscured in the PDF version; and where the source file exists in machine-readable format, whether his Department will make the original Excel or CSV file available alongside the PDF in the interest of transparency, accessibility and data re-use. [16594/26]
View answerThe Department of the Taoiseach publishes quarterly reports on Purchase Orders in Excess of €20,000 on gov.ie[]. These reports are published in pdf format and they are reviewed in advance of publication to ensure that all information is clearly displayed and that no data is obscured by formatting. The reports are machine readable and they maintain their formatting and page layout regardless of the device used to access them.
The Department is committed to ongoing examination and review of publication practices to ensure compliance with EU Open Data and accessibility standards and requirements.
210. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Taoiseach the employment rate in County Kilkenny; the way in which this compares to other counties. [15953/26]
View answerReferred to CSO for answer
The exact information requested by the Deputy is not available.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of estimates of employment in the State. The most recent figures available are for Q4 2025.
Due to the methodology and sample size of the survey it is not possible to produce reliable county estimates from the LFS.
Regional estimates of employment are produced by NUTS 3 level. NUTS are the geocode standard developed and regulated by Eurostat.
The NUTS 3 South-East region includes counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford.
The employment rate (ILO) for persons aged 15-64 for the South-East region in Q4 2025 was 71.9%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the rate 72.8% recorded a year earlier.
The employment rate (ILO) for persons aged 15-64 for the State in Q4 2025 was 74.5%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the rate 74.3% recorded a year earlier.
While the information at county level is not provided by the LFS, there is supplementary information available from Revenue’s administrative PAYE data which provides further insight on employments.
Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) outputs contain employment figures on an annual basis. It should be noted that EAADS estimates are for employees only, and do not include persons who are self-employed. Please also note that the estimate provided by EAADS relate to the number of employments, rather than number of employees. The annual employment estimates from the EAADS dataset are restricted to employments which were active during the month of October, in line with Eurostat requirements relating to Structure of Earnings Statistics. The EAADS time series begins in 2011 and the most recent figures available are for 2024.
In 2024, there were 46,475 employments among those usually resident in County Kilkenny. This compares with Dublin which had the highest number of employments at 722,606, and Leitrim which had the lowest number of employments (14,977).
Table 1 shows the total number of employments by county, 2022-2024 (EAADS).
Table 1: Number of employments by county based on administrative data sources, 2022 - 2024
|
|
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Carlow |
26,296 |
26,485 |
27,457 |
|
Cavan |
33,669 |
33,984 |
35,774 |
|
Clare |
54,082 |
54,688 |
57,579 |
|
Cork |
257,175 |
260,989 |
268,404 |
|
Donegal |
61,970 |
62,954 |
66,979 |
|
Dublin |
685,920 |
705,926 |
722,606 |
|
Galway |
123,088 |
127,072 |
130,355 |
|
Kerry |
63,292 |
63,603 |
68,039 |
|
Kildare |
115,551 |
118,357 |
121,254 |
|
Kilkenny |
43,843 |
44,272 |
46,475 |
|
Laois |
38,680 |
39,654 |
41,085 |
|
Leitrim |
14,000 |
14,287 |
14,977 |
|
Limerick |
86,978 |
90,525 |
92,711 |
|
Longford |
18,042 |
18,337 |
19,035 |
|
Louth |
60,499 |
61,474 |
64,377 |
|
Mayo |
57,802 |
57,452 |
61,161 |
|
Meath |
99,933 |
102,196 |
105,699 |
|
Monaghan |
27,306 |
27,372 |
28,979 |
|
Offaly |
34,847 |
35,188 |
36,889 |
|
Roscommon |
28,894 |
28,874 |
30,551 |
|
Sligo |
29,569 |
30,000 |
30,968 |
|
Tipperary |
70,377 |
69,814 |
73,717 |
|
Waterford |
53,775 |
53,941 |
56,241 |
|
Westmeath |
41,785 |
42,318 |
44,339 |
|
Wexford |
67,142 |
67,461 |
70,431 |
|
Wicklow |
66,699 |
66,686 |
69,810 |
|
Total |
2,403,103 |
2,464,801 |
2,539,554 |
Source: CSO, Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS)
211. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Taoiseach the employment rate in County Carlow; the way in which this compares to other counties. [15952/26]
View answerReferred to the CSO for answer
The exact information requested by the Deputy is not available.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the official source of estimates of employment in the State. The most recent figures available are for Q4 2025.
Due to the methodology and sample size of the survey it is not possible to produce reliable county estimates from the LFS.
Regional estimates of employment are produced by NUTS 3 level. NUTS are the geocode standard developed and regulated by Eurostat.
The NUTS 3 South-East region includes counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford.
The employment rate (ILO) for persons aged 15-64 for the South-East region in Q4 2025 was 71.9%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the rate 72.8% recorded a year earlier.
The employment rate (ILO) for persons aged 15-64 for the State in Q4 2025 was 74.5%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the rate 74.3% recorded a year earlier.
While the information at county level is not provided by the LFS, there is supplementary information available from Revenue’s administrative PAYE data which provides further insight on employments.
Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS) outputs contain employment figures on an annual basis. It should be noted that EAADS estimates are for employees only, and do not include persons who are self-employed. Please also note that the estimate provided by EAADS relate to the number of employments, rather than number of employees. The annual employment estimates from the EAADS dataset are restricted to employments which were active during the month of October, in line with Eurostat requirements relating to Structure of Earnings Statistics. The EAADS time series begins in 2011 and the most recent figures available are for 2024.
In 2024, there were 27,457 employments among those usually resident in County Carlow. This compares with Dublin which had the highest number of employments at 722,606, and Leitrim which had the lowest number of employments (14,977).
Table 1 shows the total number of employments by county, 2022-2024 (EAADS).
Table 1: Number of employments by county based on administrative data sources, 2022 - 2024
|
|
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Carlow |
26,296 |
26,485 |
27,457 |
|
Cavan |
33,669 |
33,984 |
35,774 |
|
Clare |
54,082 |
54,688 |
57,579 |
|
Cork |
257,175 |
260,989 |
268,404 |
|
Donegal |
61,970 |
62,954 |
66,979 |
|
Dublin |
685,920 |
705,926 |
722,606 |
|
Galway |
123,088 |
127,072 |
130,355 |
|
Kerry |
63,292 |
63,603 |
68,039 |
|
Kildare |
115,551 |
118,357 |
121,254 |
|
Kilkenny |
43,843 |
44,272 |
46,475 |
|
Laois |
38,680 |
39,654 |
41,085 |
|
Leitrim |
14,000 |
14,287 |
14,977 |
|
Limerick |
86,978 |
90,525 |
92,711 |
|
Longford |
18,042 |
18,337 |
19,035 |
|
Louth |
60,499 |
61,474 |
64,377 |
|
Mayo |
57,802 |
57,452 |
61,161 |
|
Meath |
99,933 |
102,196 |
105,699 |
|
Monaghan |
27,306 |
27,372 |
28,979 |
|
Offaly |
34,847 |
35,188 |
36,889 |
|
Roscommon |
28,894 |
28,874 |
30,551 |
|
Sligo |
29,569 |
30,000 |
30,968 |
|
Tipperary |
70,377 |
69,814 |
73,717 |
|
Waterford |
53,775 |
53,941 |
56,241 |
|
Westmeath |
41,785 |
42,318 |
44,339 |
|
Wexford |
67,142 |
67,461 |
70,431 |
|
Wicklow |
66,699 |
66,686 |
69,810 |
|
Total |
2,403,103 |
2,464,801 |
2,539,554 |
Source: CSO, Earnings Analysis using Administrative Data Sources (EAADS)
212. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Taoiseach if he can clarify the remarks recently made by his Department, that Ireland was committed militarily’ with Ukraine; his views on whether this is a departure from the State’s long held position of being ‘militarily neutral’. [17242/26]
View answerTo mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s brutal, illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign European country, I released a statement on 24 February which highlighted Ireland’s continuing solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illegal and, for the past four years, it has prosecuted a brutal war with no regard for international law or human rights norms. It has deliberately targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure in a bid to break the morale of the Ukrainian people who have faced a long and difficult winter this year.
In response, the people of Ukraine have shown the most remarkable determination to defend their country, their freedom, and their democratic right to choose their own future. That is why Russia will not succeed.
In my statement I expressed my firm hope that the current negotiations can result in peace for Ukraine - a peace that is durable, credible and consistent with international law. Russia does not, however, appear ready for peace.
That being so, I said that until peace comes, Ireland is proud to stand with Ukraine, politically, economically, militarily and diplomatically.
That has been the case since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. In the period since we have welcomed more than 100,000 Ukrainians who have sought sanctuary in this country. We have used our voice internationally at every available opportunity to rally support for Ukraine. We have contributed to financial support, including through the EU. We have sent equipment to help it sustain its energy system and we have provided non-lethal military equipment and assistance, including training in field medicine and de-mining, fully in line with our policy of military neutrality.
213. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason Ireland has not enacted the primary legislation required to give full effect to Council Decision 2013/488/EU on the protection of EU Classified Information; the timeline originally set by her Department for drafting and publishing the necessary Heads of Bill; the current status of that draft; and the name and grade of the official or unit with lead responsibility for progressing this legislation since 2013. [17139/26]
View answer214. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline which Department has held lead responsibility for ensuring State-level compliance with Council Decision 2013/488/EU since 2013; whether this responsibility has changed hands; whether any interdepartmental group or senior officials’ committee was established to progress the required legislation; and the reasons no legislation has been brought forward in the 13 years since the decision was adopted. [17140/26]
View answer215. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to list all interdepartmental meetings, working groups, or official submissions concerning Ireland’s compliance with EUCI obligations since 2013, including dates and participating Departments. [17141/26]
View answer216. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the role her Department has played in progressing the legislative measures required to implement Council Decision 2013/488/EU; whether her Department has raised concerns regarding Ireland’s non-compliance; and the reasons no legislative framework has been introduced in the 13 years since the decision was adopted. [17145/26]
View answer217. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of personnel vetted for access to EU classified information since 2013; and whether the absence of primary legislation has affected Ireland’s ability to meet EU level security obligations. [17146/26]
View answer218. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide the dates of all internal milestones, submissions, or memos relating to the preparation of the required EU legislation on the protection of classified information; the dates on which these were approved or delayed; and the reasons for any delay exceeding six months at each stage. [17208/26]
View answer232. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps her Department has taken since 2013 to ensure Ireland’s compliance with Council Decision 2013/488/EU on EU Classified Information; whether her Department requested or recommended the drafting of primary legislation; and the reasons such legislation has not been published. [17143/26]
View answer233. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide the dates of all communications between her Department and other Departments regarding the need for EUCI-related legislation; and the outcome of each communication. [17144/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 232 and 233 together.
In light of Council Decision 2013/488/EU on the security rules for protecting EU classified information (EUCI), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade undertakes a range of measures including in such areas as physical, personnel, ICT, and other areas, to ensure the protection of EUCI within the Department.
This includes robust procedures and measures for physical and electronic access, storage, transmission, and destruction of EUCI. It also includes measures to ensure officials with access to EUCI are restricted to those with a need to access such information, have security clearance at the appropriate level, and are fully briefed on their responsibilities for the protection of EUCI in line with Council Decision 2013/488/EU.
The Department currently chairs the National Security Authority (NSA), which is an interdepartmental group and the relevant authority for the protection of EUCI in the State. In this capacity, my Department currently processes applications for security clearance for officials seeking to access EUCI. Vetting is required on a five year cycle. Since 2019, over 400 government officials have been vetted for access to EUCI.
In line with the Programme for Government commitment to bring the National Security Authority under the remit of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, a project is underway in that Department to give effect to this. My Department supports this important work and is participating in the process to take it forward.
