Results 541-560 of 16,601 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Carer's Allowance is the main income support scheme for family carers in the community. There are currently 101,575 receiving this support with an estimated scheme expenditure of over €1.24 billion in 2025. Normally, under the one payment per person rule, people eligible for multiple social welfare payments typically receive the higher of the available options. However, as an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1396 and 1397 together. My department administers the Daily Expenses Allowance which is paid to International Protection Applicants who reside in, or are waiting for, accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Services. The current weekly rates of payment are €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child. In December 2023...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public transport services and on private transport services operating the Free Travel scheme. As part of Budget 2025, the government announced that from September 2025, all those aged 70 years or over in receipt of Free Travel would have an entitlement to receive a Free Travel Companion Public Services Card (PSC). The effective...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department administers more than 100 separate schemes and services, which affect the lives of almost every person in the State. My Department is fully committed to ensuring that members of the public are aware of the welfare supports and services available, and to ensuring key changes are communicated to them. The Department of Social Protection communicates to members of the public...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: An application for State pension (contributory) was received from the person concerned on 10 February 2015. To be eligible for the State pension (contributory), an individual must have at least 520 paid contributions. The records of my Department show the person concerned has 348 paid contributions which falls short of the minimum requirement. I have arranged for a copy of their...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make an Additional Needs Payment (ANP) to help meet essential expenditure which an eligible person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income or household and personal resources. This support is intended to assist with once-off or exceptional expense that a person is unable to meet from their...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: As the Deputy is aware, the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2025 was enacted on 21 July 2025. The provisions of the Act were as a result of a Supreme Court judgment, on 22nd January 2024, on the entitlement of an unmarried cohabitant to a Widower's Contributory Pension. The Supreme Court judgment overruled a previous High Court decision and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department has no record of any contracts with the firm in question in 2024 or to-date in 2025.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Statistics on claim processing are collated at scheme level, and it is not possible to provide breakdowns by individual claim characteristics such as reasons for refusal or age of the claimant. In 2024 a total of 11,070 applications for Fuel Allowance were rejected. Applications for Fuel Allowance are decided by staff at Clerical Officer and Executive Officer grades, which includes...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The main jobseekers’ schemes are Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit and Jobseeker’s Benefit, both of which are based on social insurance contributions, and the means-tested Jobseeker’s Allowance.  All of these jobseekers’ schemes require that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking full-time employment.  In circumstances where...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Hot School Meals Programme was established to ensure that children across Ireland have access to safe, nutritious meals during the school day.  This is a core Government commitment to support children’s health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes. The programme is designed so that meals are provided by contracted food business operators, with the responsibility for food...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Child Benefit becomes payable in respect of newborn babies in the month after their birth, subject to the qualifying conditions. As part of Budget 2025, a new-born baby grant of €280 was introduced.  This is paid to families of babies born, or children with a date of placement, on or after 1 December 2024 in addition to their regular first month’s Child Benefit payment of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (8 Sep 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 several significant improvements made to the means test for CA in recent years.  As a result of a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: In response to the recommendations of the Pensions Commission, in 2022 the Government decided that the Minister for Social Protection would, in submitting Budget options, set out a recommended rate of pension payment calculated using the smoothed earnings benchmark approach as an input for consideration as part of Budget discussions, on an annual basis, starting from September 2023. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs. The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per household. Those who qualify for the payment do not need to reapply annually. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Further to Parliamentary Question No. 518 of 1 July 2025 [35638/25], I can confirm that the estimated cost of increasing all headline social protection rates to €300 per week, excluding any increase for Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Partial Capacity Benefit, Disablement Pension and Blind Person's Pension, includes both State Pension (Contributory) and State...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Matters relating to foster care, including payment of foster carers allowance, are the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. This Government acknowledges the important role that carers, including foster carers, play and remains fully committed to supporting them.  The State Pension (Contributory) system already provides a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (8 Sep 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. In Budget 2025, it was announced that the Hot School Meals Scheme would be extended to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Government is very aware of the key role that family carers play in Irish society and the challenges they face and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role.  In July, the weekly income disregard increased from €450 to €625 for a single person, and from €900 to €1,250 for carers with a spouse or partner.  This change broadens access to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Invalidity Pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and for no other reason and who satisfy the pay related social insurance contribution conditions.  An application for IP was received from the person concerned on 7 May 2025.  Based on the supporting documentation supplied with the application, a Deciding...