Results 221-240 of 15,432 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 134 together. Illness benefit is the primary short term income support provided by my Department to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance. Eligibility for illness benefit depends on the person’s PRSI record and class. People must have made the required number of contributions under...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: 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.As part of the 2025 budget this also includes expenditure of €1.3 million for a Holiday Hunger...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Wage Subsidy Scheme is a key disability employment support. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to people with disabilities through a subsidy.Last year, my Department published a review of the Wage Subsidy Scheme following a public consultation.The review made six recommendations, including to reduce the minimum required hours of the scheme, to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Strategies (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 is a whole of Government strategy with the ambitious aim of reducing consistent poverty to 2 per cent or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive member states in the EU. The Roadmap was published in January 2020 and contains seven high level goals, with 81 commitments. Goal five of the Roadmap is "Supporting People with...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Carer's allowance (CA) 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.There have been a number of significant improvements made to the means test for CA in recent years. As part of Budget...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Programme for Government commits to introducing a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment.We know that addressing the cost of disability is not a question of income support alone. The delivery of and access to services are also key. The Indecon report on the cost of disability, commissioned and funded by my Department,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Poverty (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113, 131 and 179 together. Government is keenly aware of welfare issues affecting children, particularly in relation to child poverty and the impact of cost-of-living increases in recent years. These issues formed a critical input into the development of recent Budget packages, which included social welfare packages which were the largest in the history...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Jobseeker's Allowance is a means-tested payment made to people who are unemployed. To qualify for Jobseeker's Allowance, claimants must satisfy a means test, be available for full-time workand be fully or partly unemployed (at least 4 days out of work in every 7). The rate of payment depends on income and the outcome of the means assessment, and age; the full weekly personal payment is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Improving the position of disabled people is a priority for Government. That is why the Programme for Government includes a range of commitments in this area.I know many disabled people face barriers in the workplace and when looking for employment. We want to address those barriers. So, we will expand and build on successful programmes like WorkAbility, EmployAbility, and the new Work and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Programme for Government prioritises improvements to employment supports to enable more people with disabilities to enter and stay in employment.People with disabilities can access a range of supports through their local Intreo office as Intreo staff can meet with jobseekers to discuss their individual needs, aspirations, and experience, and offer appropriate training and employment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Carer’s Support Grant is an annual payment made to carers who get Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance. It can also be paid to certain other carers providing full-time care.In June 2025, a total of 2,720 people in Kilkenny and 2,048 people in Carlow received the Carer's Support Grant. This compares with 2,207 people in Kilkenny and 1,855 people in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department provides State Pension payments through the State Pension (Contributory), which is a contributory based payment based on a person's social insurance record and the State Pension (Non-Contributory) which is means-tested social assistance payment. To receive either a contributory or social assistance payment a person must qualify for that payment in their own right.The State...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Programme for Government has clearly set out a timeline which commits to significantly increasing the income disregards for Carer’s Allowance in each Budget with a view to phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the Government.This is a major change to the Carer's Allowance and to the Irish social welfare system generally. It is important that we make progress in a way...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Carer's Allowance is the main income support scheme for carers in the community. There are currently over 100,000 carers getting Carer’s Allowance with an estimated scheme expenditure of over €1.24 billion in 2025.Under the single payment per person rule, people who qualify for multiple payments typically receive the higher of the available options. However, as an exception to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: 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. On 22nd January 2024, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the entitlement of an unmarried cohabitant to a Widower's Contributory Pension. The Supreme Court judgment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: 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 PRSI contributions, and means-tested social assistance schemes.Entitlement to these supports is generally not dependent on the type or category of illness or disability. Rather, entitlement to these supports is contingent on the extent to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Illness Benefit is a payment for those who cannot work in the short term if they are ill. A person who has paid between 104 and 259 contributions at an appropriate class, since entering employment, is entitled to receive payment of Illness Benefit for a maximum of 312 paid days in any one period of interruption of employment, while a person who has paid a total of 260 or more contributions...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: I am aware of the Social Justice Ireland Report analysing how the gap between individuals on Jobseeker's Benefit and individuals earning €40,000 per year and €100,000 per year is affected by Budget measures and cost of living initiatives each year.As Minister for Social Protection, I am acutely aware, as we all are, of the pressures faced by those on the lowest welfare and work...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: As at end May 2025, there are 28,574 people aged under 66 years in receipt of Widow’s / Widower’s / Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension.As at end May 2025, there are a further 980 people in receipt of Widow’s / Widower’s / Surviving Civil Partner’s (Non-Contributory) Pension.Illness Benefit is the primary short term income support...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Sector Pensions (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: I became aware of the detail of overpayment of pensions to Ministers and civil servants when the matter was brought to Government by Minister Jack Chambers on Tuesday 10 June 2025.