State Pension: What to do if you are locked out by changes in the rules
Social insurance in other countries may deliver pension to victim of government tinkering with State pension age and PRSI rules
Department of Social Protection
Welfare system needed stronger ‘trigger’ to force unemployed to engage with employment services
Penalty of €44 viewed as not being effective
‘Too many’ unentitled asylum applicants, says Minister, signalling cut in supports
Cutting Ukrainian hosting payment will ‘push people into homelessness’, say advocacy groups
Department of Social Protection paid €1.4m a week to consultancies for IT projects
Department paid €126.51m to four largest suppliers of information technology services over two years
Civil servants’ union aims to stop department ‘solo runs’ on hybrid working
Minister says increased office attendance is needed for sufficient ‘in-person interaction with colleagues’
538 public servants are on career breaks. One has lasted 12 years
At least 50 employees of Government departments and their agencies on career break for five years or more
‘There’s a blurring of boundaries’: Workers and managers on remote working in the civil service
Some readers point out negatives of lack of office time: ‘I believe that working from home is eroding what it means and feels like to be part of a team’
Civil servants to keep existing remote working arrangements pending talks process with unions
Taoiseach says there is a ‘balance to be struck’ on office attendance in Civil Service
Civil Service remote working: how often do you work in the office? Have you been asked to come in more frequently?
Fórsa says Department of Social Protection staff and some staff in Department of Finance have been instructed to increase number of office workdays
Ireland joins global row-back on working-from-home arrangements
The last government introduced legislation on remote and flexible working, but attempts are under way to get staff into the office
Civil servants told to spend more time in office as working from home scaled back
Department of Social Protection staff told to work up to three days weekly in office, depending on grade
‘It’s kind of become our daughter’s cheat meal’: The view on new hot school meals programme
The scheme now covers nearly 2,200 schools, and 345,000 children, but some parents and teachers have concerns about nutritional standards
Don’t leave PRSI benefits on the table - they can save you thousands of euro
Free dental, optical and aural care is available to more than 2 million people under the State treatment benefit scheme
Can I get a State pension if I only start work here in my late 50s?
Recent reforms make State pension drawdown more flexible but also change how it is calculated
‘Misuse and abuse’ of State payment by some hosts of Ukrainian refugees, charity warns
Helping Irish Hosts calls for accommodation recognition payment scheme to be extended so Irish households can host refugees in direct provision
Breakfast clubs in Deis primary schools: ‘If it wasn’t here and you’d had no breakfast you’d be on the yard hungry’
Calls increasing for expansion of breakfast clubs to all Deis primary schools amid rising deprivation
Number of under 30s in receipt of disability allowance has doubled in a decade
Substantial part of the increase among younger people is attributed to mental health issues
Renters and households with children most likely to have income that doesn’t match needs - ESRI
New study finds Irish households on average need 45% of disposable weekly income, after housing costs, to cover basic expenditure
Selling new workplace pension is getting harder all the time
Department of Social Protection now looking at flat-fee structure to run scheme that disadvantages poorest paid
Looming launch of auto-enrolment pensions means no honeymoon for incoming minister
Companies have just nine months to prepare for mandatory workplace pension contributions from around 800,000 workers
Number of jobseeker’s allowance recipients sanctioned this year set to double
Payment reductions imposed on 9,000 people up to end of October compared with 5,200 for entirety of 2023, figures show
Search for auto-enrolment asset managers to start within weeks
Officials now plan flat charge on participants to run scheme which will hit lower paid people harder
First election poll shows it wouldn’t take much for the race to start looking very tight
Irish Times poll shows Fine Gael are clear front runners so far in this election. But the drop in Simon Harris’s and his party ratings will keep everyone on their toes
Supreme Court to rule on ‘systemically important’ carer’s allowance case
Decision could have profound effect on State’s obligations to carers of severely disabled children
Irish farmers describe use of imported Dutch cheese in school meals programme as ‘insult’
Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association says it has received complaints about use of imported Dutch cheese in school meals programme
€90 cut for unemployed people not engaging with jobs programme ‘common sense’ - Taoiseach
An unemployed person could be left with only €142 per week if they do not engage with department
Ukraine arrivals from next March would not be offered accommodation under new plan
Additional options include introduction of ‘maximum stay’ rule focused on exiting Ukrainians who have been in State accommodation for the longest time first
Double pension and child benefit payments and cost-of-living lump sums to be paid by December 3rd
Timing of the payments will likely fuel speculation around an early general election
New PRSI-linked unemployment benefit to commence in March, says Minister
Unlike Jobseekers, three rates of payment will be available to recipients under scheme, depending on their PRSI contributions
Pensions lobby group calls for auto-enrolment clarity in October budget
Department of Social Protection targeting start of scheme aimed at capturing 750,000 workers without pension plan in ‘early 2025′
RTÉ faces rising tax bill to settle status of hundreds of workers
Broadcaster set aside €21.7m to meet PRSI liabilities from bogus self-employment in the organisation, records show
Hundreds of cases of potential identity fraud uncovered by social welfare investigators
State has made savings of €526m through the review of more than 630,000 social welfare claims
Donohoe defends Coalition’s record as it breaks spending rule again
Government will make additional €1.2bn available for health service despite almost 10% cost overrun so far this year
Health staff reform plan to end ‘traditional 9am-5pm’ work pattern
‘Multi-use’ offices planned for civil servants to allow ‘best use of the State’s property portfolio’ under reforms linked to pay deal
Staff at disability advocacy service to ballot on proposals to resolve long-running pay dispute
Siptu and management at National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities have reached agreement on a number of issues
Payments to 5,000 asylum seekers receiving daily expenses have stopped following means tests, says Heather Humphreys
Minister meets first people to avail of new free travel pass for persons medically unable to drive
Finance officials concerned about oversight of auto-enrolment pension scheme
Legislation holds planned new mandatory workplace pension scheme to lower regulatory standards than private sector rivals
Pension auto-enrolment: Call for companies to get six-month grace for landmark new system
Many Irish employers will struggle with the implementation of the upcoming system, staffing agency warns
India’s Tata Consultancy Services preferred bidder to build auto-enrolment pension system
Department of Social Protection confirms selection of Indian information technology company to build and run landmark pension system
‘Charter’ to help reduce youth unemployment ‘step in right direction’
Some 50,000 long-term unemployed to receive ‘personalised’ supports
Long-term unemployed to be given new ‘progression’ plan or have payments cut
People signed up to personal progression plans would have to meet Intreo employment advisers every two weeks
Means-testing of asylum seekers’ allowance risks ‘pushing families into poverty’, say support groups
Refugee support organisations question Government’s timing of announcement ahead of elections
Gardaí retiring from November will have to make ‘false declaration’ they are available for work - GRA
Department of Public Expenditure says it is ‘actively engaging with stakeholders to develop more streamlined process’ for those retiring under pension changes introduced in 1995
Early retirement: People would give up a fifth of State pension if allowed payment at 60, survey finds
Welfare rules allow deferral of State pension in return for a higher payment but survey finds greater support for flexibility to take pension early
Will inheritance cause a problem with my weekly disability payment?
Care is needed when planning to leave something to a person who is on means-tested social welfare support
Child benefit extension to students aged 18 and teens with disability to come in from May 1st
Payment for further year implemented four months earlier than had been scheduled
Employers may need to run two pensions under auto-enrolment
Department of Social Protection tells employers new rules will allow transfer from compulsory scheme to workplace alternative
Four years ago, we were clapping health workers in the street. Now we’re reducing their benefits
Government has terminated a special sick pay scheme for the tiny proportion of staff who have developed long Covid and can no longer work
Death, taxes and life insurance: Why it is costing you not to get married
Change may be afoot, but there is no doubt that cohabiting couples lose out financially when compared to married people
Hours threshold eased for employers seeking to use scheme employing people with disability
Weekly threshold for employers to secure financial supports is to be reduced from 21 to 15 hours from April 1st
Woman successfully resolves ‘test’ action over domiciliary care allowance refusal
Case could have implications for large number of social welfare appeals
Supreme Court to decide if ‘woman’s work in the home’ article imposes carer funding obligations on State
Mother of profoundly disabled boy challenges refusal of maximum care allowance in appeal of ‘systemic importance’ for carers
Auto-enrolment pension systems bids narrow as Bill nears publication
Plan by Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys to launch landmark project by the end of the year continues to draw a lot of scepticism
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