Results 621-640 of 16,601 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Sustainable Development Goals (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Reducing food poverty requires a unified effort from all Government Departments and civil society. This includes the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Health, as well as the agri-food sector and the hospitality, food and retail sectors. Food poverty is a complex problem and people may require food aid due to a wide range of underlying issues, including...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Sustainable Development Goals (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Ireland has one of the most progressive systems of tax and social transfers in the EU which redistributes income from the upper income deciles to those in the lower income deciles. This system has been very effective at reducing poverty and inequality levels in Ireland and is key to our progress relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 10. Throughout the last number of years,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1745 and 1746 together. The number of primary and post primary DEIS schools that currently do not offer a breakfast club in their school, and the associated cost or providing a breakfast club, are listed below: No. of Schools No. of Pupils Additional Cost Primary DEIS schools 261 42,314 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance and the Short Term Enterprise Allowance schemes offers support for jobseekers and others in receipt of certain social welfare payments who are interested in self-employment as a route to re-entering the labour market. Government has provided €30 million for the scheme in 2025. The schemes provide support for the setting up of a new enterprise...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Following a review of the information provided in this case, the Carer’s Support Grant has been awarded and paid to the person concerned. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (29 Jul 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. My Department is committed to ensuring that only those people who are eligible receive welfare and other payments....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Legal Services (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1750, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785 and 1786 together. As the Attorney General is the Government’s legal adviser, my Department does not engage external legal services without the sanction of the Attorney General’s office. The Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO) is a constituent part of the Office of the Attorney General, and the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Legal Services (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: As the Attorney General is the Government’s legal adviser, my Department does not engage external legal services without the sanction of the Attorney General’s office. The Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO) is a constituent part of the Office of the Attorney General, and the CSSO is responsible for payment for external legal services. Broad areas where external...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Legal Cases (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The table below outlines the expenditure on legal costs by my Department and the relevant bodies under the aegis of my Department. Neither the Social Welfare Tribunal nor the Pensions Council incurred any legal costs in the period in question. - Department of Social Protection Pensions Authority Citizens Information Board 2022 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is a service 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. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Blind Pension is a means-tested payment for people aged 18 years to 66 years who are visually impaired and are habitually residing in the State. Therefore, all income, including pensions, capital, property (excluding a person’s own home) is assessable as means. If a person is married or cohabiting with another person, then each person will be assessed with half of the joint means. A...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Correspondence (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: In instances, such as this one, where a representation is made on behalf of a Deputy, the response is issued directly to the Deputy. This response was delivered to Leinster House on 9 July 2025. This will also be issued by email to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: As Minister for Social Protection, I am fully committed to making the case for a fair budget that protects the people most in need in our society - particularly families on low incomes and those people, including pensioners and carers who are dependent on social welfare payments. As part of Budget 2025, a €2.6 billion Social Protection package was secured. This was, for the third...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The One-Parent Family Payment is a payment for lone parents whose youngest child is under 7 years old. The Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment is a special arrangement under the Jobseeker’s Allowance scheme for lone parents whose youngest child is between 7 and 13 years of age inclusive. Both schemes are means tested social assistance payments. These schemes include earnings...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Primary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. In addition to these primary payments, my Department also provides a range of other payments on a weekly, monthly, or less frequent basis. These payments are considered secondary in nature and cannot be made available to those who are not in receipt of a primary payment.The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: As Minister for Social Protection, I am fully committed to making the case for a fair budget that protects the people most in need in our society - particularly families on low incomes and those people, including pensioners and carers who are dependent on social welfare payments. As part of Budget 2025, a €2.6 billion Social Protection package was secured. This was, for the third...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Grant Payments (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Details of all scheme expenditure can be obtained from the Department's audited financial statements for both Vote 37 Appropriation Account and the Social Insurance Fund. The audited financial statements for Vote 37 are available under the Publications section of the Comptroller & Auditor General's website at www.audit.gov.ie/. The audited financial statements for the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Overpayments of social welfare entitlements can occur for a number of reasons, including through error on the part of either the customer or the Department or where a person has provided false or misleading information. Persons who have been overpaid social welfare have a liability to refund the overpayment as they have been in receipt of a payment to which they were not entitled. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The number of Jobseeker's Allowance and Jobseeker's Benefit claims where the employment immediately prior to the claim commencement was in Sector A - Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (based on NACE Rev 2.1) are set out in the table below. Year Recipients June 2016 506 June 2017 485 June 2018 460 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (29 Jul 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 will be extended to all remaining...