Results 241-260 of 15,432 for speaker:Dara Calleary

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

Dara Calleary: The Programme for Government sets 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.There have been a number of significant changes made to the Carer’s Allowance means test in recent years. Next month, there will be a further increase...

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

Dara Calleary: The Department of Social Protection operates a number of employment support schemes for long term unemployed persons which also assist communities across the country in the provision of vital services. Community Employment (CE) and Tús are employment activation measures designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage...

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

Dara Calleary: The Secretary General of the Department of Defence spoke with the Secretary General of my Department on 12 June about this case.The case concerns access to a military pension for the father of a Defence Forces member who died in service.Military pensions are not a matter for my Department - they are neither provided for in Social Welfare legislation nor are they administered by the...

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

Dara Calleary: The Public Services Card (PSC) was provided for in legislation in 1998 when it was introduced alongside the PPS Number to replace the previous Revenue and Social Insurance number (RSI) and the Social Service Card (SSC). The most recent detailed cost benefit analysis, which was completed in 2021 showed, at that time and taking account of administrative as well as control savings, that the SAFE...

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

Dara Calleary: The increases which the Deputy refers to which will see the weekly income disregard rise from €450 to €625 for a single person, and from €900 to €1,250 for carers with a spouse/partner, will be introduced on 3 July.From that date, a carer in a two-adult household with an income of approximately €69,000 will still retain their full carers payment and even...

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

Dara Calleary: The Social Inclusion Forum was held on 8th May 2025. The Forum brings together government officials, people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, and the community and voluntary sector groups representing them, to discuss and debate national policy on poverty reduction and social inclusion. The Forum was arranged by the Department of Social Protection with the European Anti-Poverty...

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

Dara Calleary: The Housing Assistance Payment scheme and the Rental Accommodation scheme, administered by the local authorities, are now by far the largest schemes providing rental supports. Policy relating to the Housing Assistance Payment, including a review in the rent limits are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Furthermore, the policy in respect of...

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

Dara Calleary: The Government is very conscious of the important role of foster carers in our society. Support for foster carers is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Department for Children, Disability and Equality, and Tusla.The Foster Care Allowance is paid by Tusla. In 2025 it is paid at rate of €400 per week for children aged under 12 and €425 per week for children aged...

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

Dara Calleary: I can confirm for the Deputy that my Department is responsible for the issue of Gender Recognition Certificates under the Gender Recognition Act 2015, which came into operation on 4th September 2015. These applications are processed by the Client Identity Services area. Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria are issued a Gender Recognition Certificate in their preferred gender, which...

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

Dara Calleary: The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025: Ambitions, Goals and Commitments was published in January 2020. It is the successor to the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion which concluded at the end of 2017 and is the latest in a series of such plans dating back to 1997.The Roadmap for Social Inclusion builds on the work of its predecessors with the aim of reducing the number of people...

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

Dara Calleary: The Supplementary Welfare Allowance is a means-tested weekly payment provided by the Department to individuals and families who do not have sufficient income to meet their basic needs. It serves as a safety net for those awaiting decisions on other social welfare claims, those in emergency financial situations, or individuals with no income. The allowance includes both a basic payment and...

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

Dara Calleary: Disability Allowance is my Department's primary disability related social assistance scheme. The means test takes account of the income a person or couple has in terms of cash, property – other than the family home – and capital. Disability Allowance has one of the highest capital disregards operated by the Department of Social Protection. A recipient can have up to...

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

Dara Calleary: The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to provide income support for low income farmers. It replaced the former smallholder's unemployment assistance payment. In line with the then pre-existing arrangements for unemployment assistance (including smallholders), any income from self-employment was exempt from the class S social insurance charge applied to self-employed workers,...

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

Dara Calleary: My colleague the Minister for Health has lead responsibility for the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024. This legislation encompasses the regulation for the first time of a wide range of practices undertaken in this jurisdiction, including domestic altruistic surrogacy. It also provides for the regulation of future surrogacy arrangements undertaken by Irish residents in other...

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

Dara Calleary: As announced in Budget 2025, from the 1st January 2025, the Fuel Allowance qualifying conditions for those aged over 70 were extended to those aged over 66 and the means threshold increased to €524 for a single person and €1,048 for a couple. In December 2024, there were 221,459 recipients aged 66 and over in receipt of Fuel Allowance. Under the new criteria, the number...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (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: 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. The Department periodically reviews claims across its schemes to ensure that recipients and beneficiaries continue to...

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 Payments (19 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly non-means tested payment to a parent or guardian for a child aged up to 16 who has a severe disability. The child must require care and attention substantially over and above that required by other children their age. As of May 2025, there were more than 59,000 families in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance in respect of almost 67,000 children....

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

Dara Calleary: Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit has replaced Jobseeker's Benefit for people who have become fully unemployed since 31 March 2025 and who meet the statutory conditions for the scheme. On 7 June 2025, some 11,900 Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit claims were awarded.The purpose of the Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit is to provide a financial cushion when a person loses their employment. It...