Results 1-20 of 21,139 for speaker:Heather Humphreys in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Pregnancy loss is a tragedy and the difficulties that parents and families experience as a result cannot be over-stated. The Government recognises the need to support parents who find themselves in these tragic circumstances. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has policy and legislative responsibility for the various types of family leave such as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The objective of the School Meals Programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,723 schools and organisations, covering...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a suite of income supports for those unable to work due to illness or disability. These include insurance-based schemes, based on Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions, and means-tested social assistance schemes. The primary disability related social assistance scheme is Disability Allowance, which is a means-tested payment for people with a specified...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: There is a range of supports provided by the Community Welfare Service (CWS) under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme. These supports can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well as single Additional Needs Payments (ANPs). The Department may make an ANP to help meet essential expenditure which an eligible person...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a wide range of income and employment supports to assist jobseekers and employees with disabilities, and their employers. In autumn 2023, I announced a call for applications for a new employment focused programme to support the employment of people with disabilities. The programme is co-financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the Department of Social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions. I confirm that my Department received an application for DA from the person concerned on 19...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 25th June...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. I can confirm that Carer’s Allowance was in payment to the person concerned from 14 January 2010. Once claims are in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make an Additional Needs Payment (ANP) to help assist with funeral and burial expenses where there is an inability to pay these costs, in part or in full, by the family of the deceased person without causing hardship. According to the most recent records of the Department and with reference to previous Dáil...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned reached pension age on 9 May 2019. An application for State Pension (contributory) was received in my department on 12 July 2022. Currently all applicants for state pension (contributory) have their entitlement assessed under two separate criteria, the yearly average (YA) method and the total contributions approach (TCA). Under the YA method all paid and credited...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) is a means-tested payment made to people who are unemployed and who do not qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit for the Self-Employed. Amongst other qualifying criteria, a person must be capable of and available for full-time work. According to the records of my Department, the person concerned was awarded JA on 16/10/2023. Their claim was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Treatment Benefit is a PRSI-based scheme which provides free dental and optical services, and assistance towards the provision of audiological appliances and hair replacement products, to people who satisfy certain qualifying conditions, and to their dependent spouses/partners. In 2023, €44.7 million was paid in respect of over 1,073,000 treatments eligible under the Optical Benefit...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Treatment Benefit is a PRSI-based scheme which provides free dental and optical services, and assistance towards the provision of audiological appliances and hair replacement products, to people who satisfy certain qualifying conditions, and to their dependent spouses/partners. Opticians, Optometrists and Ophthalmologists who have a contract (panellist) with the Department provide products...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Widow's Pension (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 915 and 1000 together. Under the law as currently enacted, entitlement to a Widows, Widowers or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory pension is only available to a surviving partner who was party to a marriage or civil partnership. As the Deputy is aware, on 22nd January, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the entitlement of an unmarried...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned reached pension age on 17 September 2017. The state pension (contributory) was awarded from their 66th birthday. It is currently paid at the weekly rate of €249.30. Based on the records of my department, the person concerned has 1,510 reckonable paid and credited contributions from their date of entry into insurable employment in 1969 up to the tax year prior to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Programme for Government (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has made significant progress on the implementation of our Programme for Government commitments. In the last Budget, I introduced a €2.3 billion Social Protection package. For the second year in a row, it was the largest in the history of the State – protecting the most vulnerable in the State – carers, people with disabilities and pensioners. The Government...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: An officer of my Department contacted the person concerned and issued an application form for the Household Benefits Package to the home address. To date, there is no record of a Household Benefits Package application form having been received by the Department from the person concerned. The person concerned can apply online at MyWelfare.ie for the Household Benefits Package if they have a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 919 and 939 together. The Household Benefits Package comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. The Department of Social Protection will spend approximately €294 million this year on the Household Benefits Package for over 523,000 customers. People over the age of 70 receive the Household Benefits Package, with one...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 920, 932 and 1031 together. The Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 which was signed into law by the President in July sets out the legislative framework for the new Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit scheme. Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit will be made available to fully unemployed persons who have a strong and recent attachment to the labour...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 25 April...