Results 641-660 of 16,601 for speaker:Dara Calleary

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

Dara Calleary: The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of financial supports, energy efficiency awareness initiatives, and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock.The Programme for Government includes a commitment to examine improvements to key ancillary benefits such as the Fuel Allowance,...

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

Dara Calleary: The Programme for Government 2025 has committed to expanding the Fuel Allowance scheme to include those in receipt of the Working Family Payment. The extension of Fuel Allowance to those in receipt of the Working Family Payment, along with other potential budget measures, will have to be considered in the context of the budgetary resources available.

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

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1766 and 1846 together. The Programme for Government commits to introducing a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment. We have also made commitments in relation to the rate of the Disability Allowance payment. Introducing a €55 weekly cost of disability payment to all recipients these...

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

Dara Calleary: 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. Appeals where customers may not have recourse to Supplementary Welfare Allowance or are particularly vulnerable are currently...

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

Dara Calleary: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable to a parent or guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and where the level of that disability is such that the child is likely to require this level...

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

Dara Calleary: The information requested by the Deputy regarding reviews of customers over 80 years of age is not readily available. The system used to record control reviews, of which there are over 650,000 annually, only uses the PPSN, and scheme type as the unique identifiers. Details regarding, name, date of birth, or address of customers are not recorded on the control review system. Reviews of...

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

Dara Calleary: The Finance Act 2023 introduced the Mortgage Interest Tax Credit. Those who applied for and did not qualify for the Mortgage Interest Tax Credit 2023 from Revenue, due to an insufficient tax liability, but who did satisfy all other conditions could apply to my department to be considered for the Homeowners Once-Off Payment 2024 in respect of 2023. Sixty-one claims for the Homeowners...

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

Dara Calleary: In Budget 2024, the Government announced a new temporary mortgage interest tax credit (MITC) available through Revenue. This MITC initially applied to the 2023 tax year, however, it was extended to include the 2024 tax year. The Homeowner's Once-Off Payment was a separate payment, administered by the Department of Social Protection. A person may have been eligible for support through this...

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. The data requested by the Deputy regarding the estimated timeframe for the completion of review of applications for...

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...

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

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1774 and 1887 together. At end of December 2024, there were 18,316 people aged 66 and over in receipt of a Half-rate Carer’s Allowance payment, these include Qualified Adults. The estimated additional annual cost of providing a full rate Carer’s Allowance to those pensioners currently in receipt of the half-rate payment would be...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department provides two main payment method options for its customers: cash collection at a post office (Electronic Information Transfer (EIT)) or the transfer of funds directly into a customer’s account in a financial institution (Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)). On the 8th and 15th of July, officials in my Department became aware of a delay to payments issuing to customers...

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

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1776 and 1881 together. Income disregards ensure that, where people are in receipt of a social assistance payment and are working, their income from work - up to the level of the income disregard - is not assessed in the means test. As part of Budget 2025, the Carer's Allowance disregard was further increased to €625 for a single person, and...

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

Dara Calleary: Seasonal workers who wish to avail of income support while temporarily laid-off during the summer months can apply for a jobseeker’s payment. A jobseeker’s payment is paid for days of unemployment that the person is not being remunerated for by their employer, including receipt of any holiday pay entitlement during the temporary lay off period. The person applying must...

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

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2025 was enacted on 21 July 2025. The provisions of the Act commenced from that date. I am very pleased that as a result of this landmark legislation that surviving qualified cohabitants can now access the Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension, the Bereaved Partner's (Contributory) Pension under the...

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

Dara Calleary: The legislation providing for the Habitual Residence Condition is contained in Section 246 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Action 2005 (as amended). Habitual residence is a condition that must be satisfied in order to qualify for certain social welfare payments and applies to everyone, irrespective of nationality. Under the relevant legislative provisions, a person must be regarded...

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

Dara Calleary: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision as the assessed means exceed the limit to qualify for any payment of this pension. The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision in the coming...

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

Dara Calleary: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, my department may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income or other personal and household resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers. Payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme, taking into account...

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

Dara Calleary: The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) Food and Basic Material Assistance programme in Ireland is a continuation of the EU Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) programme which ended in Ireland in 2022. This supports EU countries’ actions to provide material assistance (including food and clothing) to the most deprived. The ESF+ Managing Authority is the Department of...

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...