Results 181-200 of 16,260 for are speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Citizens Information Services (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...the role they play in providing people with free, quality and independent information, advice and advocacy services throughout the country. It is important to point out that employees of the CIS are not employees of my Department nor are they public servants. They are employees of independent companies that provide important services on behalf of the Citizens Information Board, CIB,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Not too many measures are universally popular but I think that everybody absolutely supports the hot school meals programme. I have always been a firm believer that it is not possible to beat a hot meal in the middle of the day. I visited St. Thomas's Junior National School in Lucan with the Taoiseach last week. We saw the children getting their hot meals. They were all sitting down...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...was the secondary school. We were able to provide that support and solution at the time. We have to continue to work with them and I am happy to do what we can. It is important that children are treated equally. We had planned to have the programme rolled out to all primary schools by 2030 but I am glad to say that it has gone much quicker than was initially anticipated and I am...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Regarding dietary standards, healthy eating guidelines are set out for the suppliers. They must meet certain standards and I would expect them to do that. There are intermittent inspections by my Department in different schools. It is up to the to the principal and teachers to make sure the appropriate food is coming in because it is being paid for.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Payments (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...personal rate of weekly disability payments. The free travel scheme is also being extended. The Indecon report on the cost of disability identified that additional costs of disability run across many areas of expenditure, including housing, transport, health and education. The report found that there is a spectrum from low to high additional costs of disability, depending on...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Payments (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...main findings of the cost of disability report was that there is a broad spectrum of disabilities. We all recognise that some people need more support than others. We all recognise that. There are some people with moderate disabilities who are able to work and some with profound disabilities who we know will never be able to work. That is the reality. The Cost of Disability in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over 1 million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel for 2024 is €103.5 million. As part of budget 2024, I was particularly pleased to extend access to free...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering 443,000 children are now eligible for funding. I recently announced that the hot school meals programme has been expanded to include an additional 900 primary schools and 150,000 children. This means that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this. I propose to take questions Nos. 11 and 48 together. In budget 2024, the Govemment decided to extend the payment of child benefit to 18-year-olds who are in full-time education or have a disability. This was one of my key priorities in the budget. With many children now starting primary school at age five, together with the increase in pupils doing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...so I asked my officials to expedite the work on this. Some work needs to be done when we change payments. The IT systems have to be updated. We got the legislation passed last month, the systems are ready to go, and it will take effect from May. I would say to the parents whose children just turned 18 in February, for example, to contact my Department and reapply. It is just a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Flood Relief Schemes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...in the immediate aftermath of emergency weather events under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to provide income- tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged and because of lack of insurance are not able to meet costs for essential needs, household items and, in some instances, structural repair. The income test for the scheme is more...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Carer’s Allowance scheme is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers in the community. In 2024 the expenditure on the Carer’s Allowance scheme is estimated to be over €1.1 billion. Means tests are an essential components of our social welfare system - they help to direct scarce reroutes to where they are needed most. In the absence...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Reports (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Officials in my Department have been compiling material related to all areas of the organisation to draft the Annual Report for 2023. This information is currently being collated. The content and design will be finalised in the coming weeks. It is intended that the 2023 Annual Report will be submitted to Government by the end of June 2024. The aim is to lay it before the Houses and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...committed to improving outcomes for people with a disability. In budget 2024 for example I provided for: A €400 once-off payment for Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension and Carer’s Support Grant recipients in November 2023 to address the high cost of living. A €200 lump sum Living Alone Allowance payment. A €300 lump sum Fuel Allowance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Raidió Teilifís Éireann (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The function of Scope Section in my Department is to make decisions and provide information and advice on PRSI insurability in accordance with the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. In conducting insurability investigations, the Department's fundamental objective is first, to ensure that workers do not suffer a loss of entitlement to social insurance benefits as a consequence of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. The average number of weeks to award a Disability Allowance claim is currently 12 weeks. My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...pension. The Supreme Court judgment overruled a previous High Court decision and found in favour of the claimant and his children. In simple terms, the Court found that section 124 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (as amended) is inconsistent with the Constitution insofar as it excluded the claimant from the category of persons entitled to benefit from it. The Court reached...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...contribution, and assuming that 90% of enrollees will remain enrolled in the scheme, the full year cost of the State top-up is estimated to be €138 million in 2025. By Year 10, when the full contribution rates are phased in, the full annual cost is estimated to be €760 million. While the cost of incentivising AE appears to be significant, it represents an investment in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department is committed to supporting kinship carers in the valuable role they play in our society. A Guardians payment is made to a person caring for a child who satisfies the definition of an “orphan” under social welfare legislation. A child is considered an orphan if they are under 18 (or 22 if in full time education) and both parents are deceased; or one parent is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Department of Social Protection provides income supports through a mixture of contributory payments (which are based on a person's social insurance record) and means-tested social assistance payments. To receive either a contributory or social assistance payment a person currently in receipt of an increase for a qualified adult under their partner's payment must qualify for that payment...