NIRWN will be hosting a rural focus group on Free School Meals and Uniform Grants. Siobhán Harding, Women’s Support Network will be facilitation the focus group to listen to and gather the views and experiences of rural women so they can be reflected back to the Department of Education as part of the Women’s Regional […]
NIRWN represented rural women working with the Department of Foreign Affairs Ireland on the Irish government’s fourth National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security. We attended a Civil Society consultation online and followed up with attendance at Iveagh House, Dublin to work on the validation phase of the National Action Plan development. It is […]
Campaigns: Guarantee our Essentials Siobhán is part of a campaign from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust calling for an Essentials Guarantee within Universal Credit. The Essentials Guarantee would embed in the social security system a principle that at a minimum Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials. The Campaign is […]
Review of Free School Meals and Uniform Grant Eligibility Criteria Closing Friday 14th February 2025 Find out more here. Consultation launched on Gender Pay Gap Information Regulations Closing Friday 14th February 2025 Find out more here. Consultation on funding for the Employment Support Scheme Closing Monday 17th February 2025 Find out more here. Holiday Hunger Survey Closing Tuesday 18th […]
The Department of Finance has issued a consultation on the draft budget for 2025-26. The Draft 2025/26 Budget sets out the proposed funding for all the different Government departments for the financial year. The NI Executive is encouraging people to get involved in the Draft Budget consultation and have their say on how to prioritise […]
The Department for Communities is consulting on a new Fuel Poverty Strategy for Northern Ireland. The draft Fuel Poverty Strategy proposes a framework for addressing fuel poverty and its impacts. Fuel poverty is the inability of a household to heat and power their home adequately. It is affected by the cost of energy, the energy […]
The Department for Communities is consulting about policy changes to the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Scheme, to limit the annual Winter Fuel Payment in Northern Ireland to pensioners in receipt of Pension Credit or other means tested benefits. The deadline for comments is Sunday 2nd March and is available on the Department for Communities […]
Sinn Féin have launched a Private Members Bill on Holiday Hunger. This Private Members’ Bill (PMB) is about legislating to provide direct support to children and young people entitled to free school meals and their families throughout school holiday periods. Approximately 100, 000 children are eligible for free school meals. However, this entitlement ends when […]
The Department for Communities has launched a consultation on funding for the Employment Support Scheme. It is seeking views on the potential equality implications arising from a proposal to cease funding for the Employment Support Scheme. This is being considered in response to the constrained financial position the Department is facing as a result of […]
A consultation on proposed changes relating to the requirements for employers to publish information on the pay of male and female employees has been launched by the Department for Communities. These requirements show whether there are differences in the pay of male and female employees, the Gender Pay Gap, and the consultation will look at […]
