Dara Calleary
Mayo · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“Agriculture is the backbone. We have all been in the Mansion House today, or everyone has said they were anyway. Energy security is key and crucial. Everybody wants energy security but nobody wants wind energy. We have to strike a balance and get a real discussion, but food security is most important.”
“While we have gaps there, we are addressing them. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has announced the minor injury units, which will take the pressure off major hospitals and ensure services are available.”
“Recent figures from the CSO show that there is a 5.8% increase in the number of people living in rural areas between 2016 and 2022. In areas classified as highly rural and remote, the increase was 6.4%.”
“Enterprise Ireland is investing in Irish-owned, Irish-founded companies. Similarly, 59% of IDA investments were located outside the Dublin region. We will continue to work, looking at the progress we can make through the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and, as Senator O'Loughlin said, through supporting our local enterprise offices.”
“That is something we do daily and they are used where is necessary. The plan will be supported by ambitious, clear, practical and measurable actions. I have spoken to some of the funding programmes available within my Department.”
“Táim tar éis cuairt a thabhairt ar gach ceantar Gaeltachta chun plé fairsing a dhéanamh leis na pobail sin chun a fháil amach uathu féin cén cineál tacaíochta ar féidir a chur ar fáil dóibh chun cabhrú leo. Táim chun leanúint ar aghaidh leis an obair sin sa bhuiséad le teacht agus na buiséid eile.”
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Every one of 2,162 lines we hold for Dara Calleary, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 18 of 44.
“In budget 2026, we also allocated €3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services. This is being invested in services to make sure the day-to-day experience of people is dealt with. I am determined to pursue a cost-of-disability payment and I look forward to engaging with the committee about what it should look like, who should get it and how it should be paid. There are different models and interpretations, and I want active and constructive discussion with every member of the committee and every party. We all want to do this, but it is how we do it. I want to make sure that we have the voices of people with disabilities and their advocates in the discussion.”
“I agree about the complexity of the costs facing people with disabilities. We are anxious to capture all those to make this a permanent cost, and one that reflects what they want in it. We will engage with all of the organisations, including the Disability Federation of Ireland, about that. In budget 2026 we have already taken measures, including a €10 increase in the weekly rate of payment, which brings the personal rates of payment to €254; a €20 per month increase in the rate of domiciliary care allowance, which brings that rate to €380 per month from this month; and the highest ever increases in child support payment, at €16 for children aged 12 and over, which brings the rate to €78, and €8 for children under 12, which brings that rate to €58.”
“The work of this network, which includes disabled people and their advocates, will inform the approach to be taken in addressing the cost of disability. Officials have already held bilateral meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the structure and content of the strategic focus network. The matter was also discussed at my Department's disability consultative forum on 2 December. A meeting with the Disabled Persons Organisations Network is being organised. It is currently scheduled to take place next Friday, 23 January. I will make further announcements about consultations in relation to the payment.”
“The strategy adopts a whole-of-government approach, with individual Departments and agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit across five pillars. The commitment to introduce a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment sits within this framework as a matter on which my Department is taking the lead. Subject to the overall budgetary context, I am determined to include that payment as part of budget 2027. Importantly, the strategy requires that delivery of the various commitments be informed by and include the active input of disabled people and their advocates. My Department is leading a strategic focus network on the cost of disability with other relevant Departments and agencies.”
“The Department of Social Protection provides a range of income support payments for disabled people. There are currently 231,000 recipients of disability income support payments, with an estimated expenditure of €3.24 billion in 2025. The Government recognises the many additional costs that disabled people face in their daily lives; I agree with the Deputy on that issue. We are committed to improving outcomes by introducing permanent measures to help address those costs. That is why the programme for Government includes a range of commitments to support disabled people. These commitments have been further developed in the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030.”
“A sum of €486 million from my Department is a very significant measure. As I said, this is the first time it has been expanded. I will certainly have an eye to the fuel allowance, as my response from the Department to energy poverty.”
“The increase in the fuel allowance is 15%. That is a permanent increase; it will not be from year to year. We expanded fuel allowance to the 50,000 families who are on the working family payment. Again, that is a permanent increase and a fundamental change to the fuel allowance payment. We are absolutely focused on energy poverty. We are working with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to address the issues that cause energy poverty. We will continue to do that, but we have also addressed a lot of the areas causing family and child poverty by looking at the child support payment and giving record increases, particularly for those over the age of 12. The fuel allowance for 2026 is a €486 million investment in families across the country. It is a total of €1,064 a year for those who are on the fuel allowance.”
“I want to make permanent increases that are not year to year or dependent on budgetary situations and have them as part of it. We work with our colleagues in the Department of the environment on other fuel poverty initiatives, including retrofitting and guidance, so we can reduce permanently the cost of energy bills as opposed to making temporary changes.”
“We are very focused on energy poverty. That is why the fuel allowance increase is 15%, which supports over 460,000 households that require most support with energy costs. This is the first year the fuel allowance has been expanded to working families. Those on the working family payment will get a back payment in March of their fuel allowance backdated to 1 January. That will bring an additional 50,000 people in. As I said, we have also looked at other areas that directly impact on families, particularly children. That is why the record increases in child support payment are important. They give permanent increases in income to families on the lowest of incomes. This is the first time the fuel allowance has gone beyond a welfare payment to people who are on the working family payment. That is where I want to go.”
“Some 35,000 families will benefit from an extension of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance. In addition, almost 49,000 recipients and over 100,000 children will benefit from an increase to working family payment income thresholds of €60 per week. Due to the measures taken by the Government in recent years, recent CSO data show a welcome reduction in enforced deprivation rates in 2025, including in relation to energy. We continue to monitor the cost-of-living situation carefully. However, given the additional supports provided by the Government as part of budget 2026, which are permanent, not temporary, supports, a cost-of-living package targeting energy poverty is not being considered at this particular time.”
“As part of that budget, I was delighted, last October, to announce that from 1 January, the weekly rate of fuel allowance would increase by €5 per week to €38. That is a 15% increase, which will support over 460,000 households requiring Government support with energy costs. Importantly, from a child poverty perspective, I have also extended eligibility for fuel allowance to an additional 43,000 families in receipt of the working family payment. These increases are on top of a €10 per week increase in the core payment rates, which are 4.1% for most schemes. Over 330,000 children will benefit from the largest ever increase in the child support payment of between 16% and 26% per week, which will be €8 per week for children under 12 and €16 per week for children aged 12 and over.”
“The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of financial supports, energy efficiency, awareness initiatives and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. The overall strategy to combat fuel poverty and energy poverty is under the remit of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. However, the supports provided by the Government are cross-departmental and, in this regard, my Department is represented on the energy poverty action group and the energy affordability task force. In budget 2026, the Government committed €8.1 billion in additional spending, including over €1.15 billion in additional social welfare spending.”
“Employers that employ 25 or more active people with disability are also eligible for a grant of €30,000 towards the employment of an employment assistance officer. As such, we are very much focused on making that scheme work and making it more attractive to employers. I am also very focused on engaging with employers to encourage them to offer opportunities and in doing so highlighting the many companies that are doing that in every role, including management roles, front-facing roles and back office roles, and in using technology to support people to make the most of their talent. We have made changes to the workplace accommodation scheme to do that. I am happy to engage with the Deputy on the wage subsidy scheme, the benefits that are there for his constituent's employer and the supports that are there for them.”
“I thank the Deputy. As I outlined, when the employment support scheme closed in 2005, there were 474 employees in respect of 404 employers. Today, we have 1,518 employers availing of the scheme and over 2,500 employees. We are a long way off where I want to be, however, and I will be very focused on getting people with disabilities into the workforce because they have extraordinary skill and talent to offer. I am constantly reviewing the wage subsidy scheme. In budget 2026, we provided an increase in the base rate of the wage subsidy from €6.30 to €7.50, which is an increase of over 19%. Employers with up to six employees under this scheme will be paid the base rate from next April and employers with between seven and 16 employees are paid €8.50. Employers with 17 employees or more are paid €10 per employee.”
“I have also made changes to the supports available to employers to make it more attractive for employers to work with people with disabilities. The employment support scheme is closed to new applications but we are committed to legacy cases and continuing their payment until their employment ends. The programme for Government commits to further reviewing the minimum hours requirement under the wage subsidy scheme for disabled people and to examining further increases to the payment rate. Those commitments are also reflected in the human rights strategy for disabled people to which the Deputy referred. I am happy to discuss this specific case with him offline to see if we can support this person's employer with regard to the wage subsidy scheme and also the workplace adaptation scheme.”
“The reduction has been due to changing jobs, retirement or switching to the wage subsidy scheme. Last year, the Department of Social Protection published a review of the wage subsidy scheme following a public consultation. The review made six recommendations. I have allocated an additional €3.7 million to implement the review’s recommendations. In April 2024, the minimum hours for the scheme were reduced from 21 to 15 hours. The wage subsidy scheme now includes employers in the community, voluntary and commercial semi-State sector while the employment support scheme was open to private sector only. In budget 2026, we provided for an increase in the subsidy rates paid under the scheme and an expansion in eligibility with regard to those with acquired disabilities.”
“Any employee in an employment subsidised under the employment support scheme in 2005 when the scheme closed to new applicants was allowed to remain on the scheme but only in that specific employment. If the employment covered by the employment support scheme terminates or changes in the way suggested by Deputy Cooney, the employee cannot transfer their employment support scheme to a new employment but can instead apply for the wage subsidy scheme. Expenditure on the wage subsidy scheme over the past five years has been €2.95 million. The employment support scheme closed to new applicants in 2005. At that time, there were 474 employees in receipt of payments under the scheme in respect of 404 employers. Currently, there are 36 employees still in receipt of payment with 31 employers.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Cooney as an ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú inniu. I thank Deputy Cooney for raising this issue. The employment support scheme was run by FÁS. It offered financial support to employers to cover a disabled employee’s employment. The scheme was open to the private sector only. The wage subsidy scheme came into operation as a pilot scheme in September 2005. It replaced the pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities and the employment support scheme, both of which were closed to applicants at that time. Following a review of its pilot phase, the wage subsidy scheme was placed on a permanent, non-statutory footing in October 2008. Participants in the pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities became part of the wage subsidy scheme.”
“I thank all who are working towards that. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach, leis an gcléireach agus le foireann an tSeanaid as an seans a bheith leo inniu.”
“We could not capture all of it but we captured a lot of it in the contents of this Bill, which will make an enormous difference to 1.2 million families across the country. I thank in particular my 7,000 colleagues in the Department of Social Protection who will deliver this system to homes, communities and individuals over the coming weeks and through 2026. For the information of the House, as of this morning, there were 522,185 employees registered for My Future Fund. I was in Buncrana at our social protection and Intreo office yesterday and in Letterkenny in our National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, or NAERSA, office and with our colleagues in Tata Consultancy Services. Work is fully under way for 1 January for My Future Fund. This will have a transformative effect on the pensions and savings landscape in Ireland.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teach as an mBille tábhachtach seo a thabhairt tríd inniu. Gabhaim buíochas go háirithe as an díospóireacht a bhí againn oíche Chéadaoin. Tá sé suimiúil agus tá obair le déanamh againn. I thank the House for its co-operation in passing the Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025. I thank Senators for their input and contributions on Wednesday night and at the social protection committee. I thank the officials in my Department who have worked incredibly hard on this since the beginning of the summer when we had our pre-budget forum in the Department, at which over 70 organisations came together to feed their ideas.”
“I am going to organise an engagement for every Oireachtas Member with representatives from the community welfare service after the Christmas recess so they can meet them. The feedback I get from Oireachtas Members is that they cannot meet representatives from the community welfare service. We will give them information about the additional needs payments to ensure they have it at their disposal for people who have genuine cases. I commend the Bill to the House. I thank the Members for sitting late. I thank everyone involved with the introduction of auto-enrolment for their support. There will be glitches, but this will transform the Irish pension landscape in a way that has not happened for many years. When those 750,000 to 800,000 people reach the age of retirement, My Future Fund will be key to them enjoying their retirements.”
“We have reduced the burden on employers, and we are giving a better future to 750,000 to 800,000 of our citizens than they otherwise would have. I thank all of the Senators for their suggestions. I especially want to thank the approximately 7,000 people in the Department of Social Protection around the country who implement this budget on the ground. They work with all of us to ensure that €28.9 billion gets invested in families, communities and homes. A lot of Senators raised the cost-of-living crisis. I accept that. I want them to know that additional needs payments are available through the Department of Social Protection. Senator Rabbitte had the community welfare service at committee today.”
“This is a major change to the system, but we can say to people aged 25 who are on €25,000 a year that if they make their auto-enrolment fund contributions, even without any investment growth, they could have a fund of €180,000 when they retire, which they otherwise would not have. That is what we are looking to. When people are 66 years old and their earning power may be restricted, that is the time when they will need My Future Fund. By having the period of six months, we hope they will be able to bed it in. People's contributions increase, as does the State contribution. It is laid out in a pathway for the next ten years so that employees and employers have certainty. Employers have a much lower fee rate than they would in a private fund. NAERSA is doing all of the back office work. There is certainty.”
“At the moment, we have four workers for every person over the age of 66. By the time we get to 2050, which, scarily enough, is not that far away, we will have two workers. I say that in the context that the State contributory pension will still be the bedrock of our pension system, but it will be partnered with My Future Fund to give those 750,000 to 800,000 people, who are working very hard, some sort of a decent retirement they can enjoy. We are the last country in the OECD to bring in auto-enrolment. There will be some glitches. The GDPR issue is very much in hand. I will come back to Senator McCormack with a detailed note on that.”
“In relation to the period of six months that employees must stay in the scheme, we are the last country in the OECD to bring in auto-enrolment. The overall point about auto-enrolment is that we cannot have a situation where between 750,000 and 800,000 workers have no pension provision, which is currently the case. If they are on the average industrial wage, which is between €46,000 and €47,000, they will go a situation where they are totally dependent on the State contributory pension of around €16,000. What impact will that have on small businesses? What impact will that have on our employment figures when that earning power takes that level of a drop? We cannot continue as a country to put our head in the sand around the fact that we have this issue. My Future Fund addresses this.”
“The team in Letterkenny, by working very hard - working in part with my officials since 2018 - has allowed us to deliver a situation whereby, tonight, 408,000 employees are registered for auto-enrolment. Auto-enrolment certainly has not been sprung on people. This was first mentioned 20 years ago, long before anyone here was in the House. Since 2019, we have been actively involved with employer groups and unions on what this will look like. The former Minister, Heather Humphreys, brought the legislation through both Houses in terms of its design. We made it clear in April that I was postponing the implementation date to 1 January to algin with the start of the new tax year. We have invested significantly in providing information to employers and employees. We will continue to do so throughout the coming period.”
“It is involved in providing this kind of service in many countries, including the UK. Norway's sovereign wealth fund holds stakes in 15 separate Tata companies, including a stake of about €250 million in TCS. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is considered by many to be one of the most ethical and has very clear policies in relation to this. TCS in Letterkenny employs 1,400 people. They do really important work and have done so for many years previously under a different employer. They are not involved except in producing the best possible product for My Future Fund. That is their commitment and what they are working on. There is no legal basis for excluding TCS from the contract, nor is there a basis for withdrawing the contract.”
“That is a substantial investment. On auto-enrolment generally, there are a couple of points. I will revert to Senator Cosgrove in relation to the childcare issue. For any organisation funded through Government or via the Government, we have made it clear to our colleagues since April that auto-enrolment would be put in place in January. I made it clear during the budgetary process, and the Secretary General of my Department made it clear to senior officials that they needed to ensure that provision was made and that support was available. Most organisations have done that. I will engage with Citizens' Information Services. I had a quick look at its website as Senator McCormack was speaking. It has very supportive information guides available. Tata, TCS Ireland, was selected in an EU-wide procurement process between 2023 and 2024.”
“The Government has allocated €3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, which represents a 20% increase year on year for services. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is determined to make a difference in that space. Senator Craughwell had queries on to the National Training Fund. While I wish I had access to that money, I do not. Those contributions are collected as part of PRSI. The fund is the responsibility of the Minister for further and higher education, but the Senator made a serious and good point in relation to the need for cybersecurity training. In the context of the €10 weekly increase in terms of pensions alone, that is a €400 million investment. Those are the kinds of figures we are talking about. The overall €10 rate increase will result in an overall cost of €850 million for the next year.”
“For the first time, people on disability allowance who wish to take up employment - I put a lot of work into changing that and making it more efficient - will be able to retain the fuel allowance. That has always been a challenge, that cliff of going into employment and losing those benefits. We have started to change that. If a person on disability allowance moves into employment and, for whatever reason, it does not work out, they will not face a delay in getting back on the disability allowance. That is another issue. We are making changes. I have made a strong commitment. Senator Rabbitte, as a former Minister of State in this space, has been very much in my ear in relation to this matter.”
“Most importantly, I want a proposal that has input from the disability organisations, as opposed to something that will be laid on them, ahead of next year's budget. I want to be in a position to bring a proposal to the Department of public expenditure around a permanent cost-of-disability payment that recognises the pressures people with disabilities face. It is not just those on the Opposition side of the House who recognise that; we on this side also recognise it. I want to put something in that is permanent and sustainable and has their input in its design. I will work towards that. Most importantly, I will work with disability organisations in doing it. That is a commitment I will continue to give.”
“I made the choice to move away from one-off supports to more permanent supports. That is why the fuel allowance, which Senator Stephenson mentioned, has been increased by €5 a week from €33 to €38 from January 2026. For the first time, 50,000 families in receipt of the working family payment, families going out every day to work, will be entitled to the fuel allowance. That will be paid to them in March and will be backdated to January. There has been a big improvement in that regard. In relation to disability, we made a commitment in the programme for Government to introduce a permanent cost-of-disability payment. We have begun the work on what that will look like. Officials in my Department met the organisations involved on the Tuesday before last to begin scoping out what it will look like. My officials know I want a proposal on that.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí as ucht páirt a ghlacadh sa díospóireacht seo anocht. Gabhaim mo leithscéal as an vóta sa Teach eile. I will deal generally with the Bill, and I will try to deal with some of the queries. I will come back to Senator Cosgrove's specific queries on childcare. There are €1.15 billion worth of new measures in the Bill. I would love to have the luxury - and I had it, although I will not call it a luxury - of being in opposition and being able to do everything. When you are negotiating a budget, as we did right up until 9 p.m. the night before the recent budget was introduced, you have to make tough choices. We made the choice this year to give a general rate increase ahead of inflation. I know it is a difficult time. Other countries are not giving that level of increase.”
“That concludes the amendments in the Bill relating to the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act. Finally, section 18 is the Short Title and construction of the Act. Once again, I thank Senators for their time. I commend the Bill to the House.”
“As a safeguard, it also provides that NAERSA may, at its discretion, require that some selected subcontractors likewise be regulated. Looking at the final amendment to the automatic enrolment legislation, the current Act provides for offences relating to hindering an employee from participating in My Future Fund, and offences relating to the non-payment of contributions, to be dealt with through a fixed payment notice procedure. The amendments in paragraphs (f) and (g) extend this to include any contravention of the provisions that obligate an employer to provide a notice to an employee of their enrolment into My Future Fund. These amendments reflect that low-level regulatory breaches are best suited to being dealt with under the fixed payment notice procedure.”
“This amendment sets out a requirement to provide notice to the employee within 14 days from the receipt of the determination of enrolment given to the employer. Paragraph (d) mirrors this amendment for employees who opt in to My Future Fund. Paragraph (e) amends the requirement that all subcontractors of investment management providers be a regulated financial services provider. In practice, investment management providers, like all other businesses, use subcontractors to provide a wide range of services, including, for example, IT and facilities. The proposed change retains the position that the investment management provider itself shall be a regulated financial services provider within the meaning of the Central Bank of Ireland Acts.”
“Similarly, paragraph (b) provides for the reporting period for the Pensions Authority’s first supervisory report to cover the period from 14 October 2025 to 31 December 2026. Paragraph (c) gives NAERSA a provision for operational flexibility in assigning an automatic enrolment date using Revenue payroll data. The provision is limited, giving flexibility of no more than 31 days. The amendment is necessary, in particular at calendar year-end periods, when some employers bring January payroll runs forward to mid-December. Staying with paragraph (c), the automatic enrolment legislation further requires that an employer must notify their employee that they have been enrolled. However, it currently does not specify a time period for this notice to be provided.”
“With My Future Fund, I am proud to be introducing a quality-assured supplementary retirement savings scheme that will address the relatively low proportion of private sector employees in Ireland with supplementary pension cover and to address pension adequacy more broadly. I wish to take the House through each of the amendments. These amendments have no material impact on the provisions of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act or the policy intent that underlines them. The first two amendments provide for a change in the implementation timeline to January 2026. Paragraph (a) restores the original policy intent to provide six months from the establishment date of the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, or NAERSA for ease of reference, for the development of the statement of strategy.”
“Other payments impacted in a similar way do not require amendments to primary legislation. I will be making regulations to address these payments in the near future. That concludes the social welfare element of the Bill. I will now turn my attention to a number of technical amendments to the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024 that are contained in section 17 of the Bill. Before I go into the detail of these amendments, I want to assure Senators that we are well on course to have all the necessary legislative and operational systems in place for the successful launch of My Future Fund on 1 January 2026. The employer portal opened on 1 December and, as of 5 p.m. today, over 35,000 employers have registered, with 408,000 associated employees.”
“The rate for children under 12 will increase by €8 to €58 per week, and the rate for children aged 12 and over will increase by €16 to €78 per week. Section 14 provides for an increase in the rate of payment for domiciliary care allowance from €360 to €380 a month. Section 15 is a purely technical amendment. It corrects a reference to a section in the Taxes Consolidation Act arising from an amendment in the Finance Act. Section 16 is consequential to the enactment of auto-enrolment legislation. It provides that a participant’s contributions to My Future Fund will be assessed in the same manner as other retirement savings contributions by employees when assessing income for certain social welfare schemes. The schemes in question are the working family payment and rent supplement.”
“Section 10 extends the back to work family dividend to recipients of the blind pension and disability allowance. Section 11 is a technical amendment to section 265 of the principal Act, correcting the subsection numbering. Section 12 and Schedule 1 provide for increases in the rates of social insurance payments. I am pleased that there will be a €10 per week increase in the maximum personal rate of the PRSI-based benefits set out in Schedule 1. Section 13 and Schedule 2 similarly provide for a €10 per week increase in social assistance payments set out in the schedule, which are subject to a means test. I also highlight that sections 12 and 13 provide for the largest-ever increases in the child support payment, as well as proportional increases for qualified adults.”
“Sections 3 to 6, inclusive, provide for a €10 increase in the weekly rate of maternity benefit, adoptive benefit, paternity benefit and parent's benefit, respectively, to €299 from January. Section 7 gives effect to proportionate increases in the graduated rates of jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's benefit for the self-employed. Section 8 is an administrative amendment to provisions for the newborn baby grant. This is a once-off €280 payment for newborn or adopted children given in addition to the first month of a child benefit payment. This section extends the period of time that a person may qualify for the payment from one month to three months. Section 9 provides for a €60 increase in the weekly income thresholds of working family payment for all family sizes.”
“I am also happy to note that the Christmas bonus payments, which provide such vital financial support, issued last week to around 1.5 million long-term recipients of social welfare payments. There are 18 sections in the Bill, which I will go through now for the House. Section 1 provides definitions of other Acts referred to in the Bill. Section 2 provides that employers with employees on the national minimum wage will continue to attract the lower rate of employer PRSI, following the increase in the national minimum wage. The section will come into operation on the same day as the national minimum wage increase on 1 January 2026. That represents a weekly saving of €12.41 in employer PRSI for each full-time employee on the minimum wage.”
“This means that a single carer who does some part-time work can have an income of just over €54,000 per year from that work and still receive a full carer's payment, or that a person who is caring in a couple household with income of up to €108,000 a year will receive a full carer’s payment. Above inflation increases to core weekly rates of payment are also included in the Bill as well as a range of other measures that focus on those who need additional support. A number of other significant measures were announced on budget day that do not require primary legislation and are, therefore, not included in the Bill. These include improvements to the fuel allowance and the wage subsidy scheme.”
“These measures include significant targeted improvements in the child support payment and the carer's allowance scheme. In this regard, the Government is implementing the largest child support payment increase in the history of the State. The measures announced in budget 2026 will bring the total annual value of the child support payment to just over €3,000 for each child under 12 and just over €4,000 for each child aged 12 and over. This is a significant level of targeted support aimed at reducing child poverty. Looking at carer’s allowance, I am delighted that I managed to secure an increase in the weekly income disregard for a single person to €1,000 per week and for a couple to €2,000 per week.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach, le Ceannaire an tSeanaid agus leis na Seanadóirí as suí chomh déanach seo le haghaidh an Bhille thábhachtaigh seo. Ar dtús, I congratulate the new Clerk of the Seanad, Martin Hughes, who is a fellow Ballina and Mayo man. I always knew Seanad Éireann had good taste and it will be in very good hands for the running of the House. I thank the Senators for accommodating the time slot for the Bill. It is a great honour for me to present my first social welfare Bill of five to Seanad Éireann. The main purpose of the Bill is to implement budget 2026 measures. These will see €28.9 billion spent on social welfare in 2026, including over €1.15 billion in new measures targeted to assist households most in need of support.”
“Successful projects included €100,000 for the Leitrim village playground and €54,000 for facilities in the Cliffoney men's shed. In addition to these capital schemes, the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, and committee services programme are providing current expenditure supports to organisations throughout both counties. I look forward to continuing to work with the Deputy on our strong record of investment in rural Ireland, including in Sligo and Leitrim.”
“I thank Deputy Scanlon. He is constantly putting pressure on. He will be pleased to know that since 2020, Sligo has been allocated in the region of €57 million and Leitrim nearly €66 million in funding from various schemes and programmes administered by my Department, which includes €7.5 million for Sligo and €8.5 million for Leitrim in 2025 alone. Sligo and Leitrim have secured significant funding under my Department's rural regeneration and development fund, including €1.1 million for the National Surf Centre in Strandhill and €3.4 million for the Mohill public realm works, which I had the pleasure of visiting earlier this year. Just last week, I was pleased to announce CLÁR funding of just over €537,000 for County Leitrim and €502,000 for County Sligo.”
“Má tá sonraí ag aon Teachta faoi thalamh nó faoi site sa Ghaeltacht, iarraim orthu na sonraí sin a chur chugam agus déanfaidh mé obair orthu.”