Results 661-680 of 16,601 for speaker:Dara Calleary

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

Dara Calleary: I was delighted to attend my first pre-budget forum on 17th July last. It is an excellent event where NGOs, employer and employee representative groups attended to discuss their priorities for the forthcoming social protection Budget. It is an outreach event that my Department have organised for over 20 years. The organisations invited cover as wide a representation as possible - for...

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

Dara Calleary: The Programme for Government includes a commitment to ‘Ensure Parents who are aged 66+ and caring for children with lifelong disabilities retain the rate at which they are paid their Carer’s Allowance and concurrently receive the State Pension’. This commitment will be advanced over the lifetime of the Government in the annual budgetary context and in light of available...

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

Dara Calleary: Matters relating to foster care, including any indexing linking 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: Judicial Reviews (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1794 to 1796, inclusive, together. The question at issue in the appeal referenced is whether the worker has been working for the appellant company under a contract of service or under a contract for services during the period concerned. The worker sought a determination on his employment status on 8 May 2020. The Scope section of my Department...

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

Dara Calleary: Firstly, I hope the Deputy will appreciate that I am unable to comment or intervene in relation to issues specific to an individual pension scheme. The concept of mandatory preservation of pension benefits was only introduced when the Pensions Act 1990 (“1990 Act”) was enacted. Prior to the introduction of the 1990 Act, a person with a number of years’ service could,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (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 allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision in the coming days.

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

Dara Calleary: The provision of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in workplaces to assist in the prevention of sudden cardiac death is an important aspect of modern occupational first aid. Currently, almost all Intreo offices have a defibrillator in the building. My Department's Facilities Management Unit are currently progressing a tender for the supply, upgrade and maintenance of...

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

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1800 and 1801 together. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce the Automatic Enrolment (AE) Retirement Savings System. The aim of introducing AE is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and to provide workers with greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income. The new system, to be known by...

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 allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision in the coming days.

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all customers, ensuring that claims are processed as quickly as possible and that backlogs are kept to a minimum. Processing times for new applications vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. Schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all customers, ensuring that claims are processed as quickly as possible and that backlogs are kept to a minimum. Processing times for new applications vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. Schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all customers, ensuring that claims are processed as quickly as possible and that backlogs are kept to a minimum. Processing times for new applications vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. Schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all customers, ensuring that claims are processed as quickly as possible and that backlogs are kept to a minimum. Processing times for new applications vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. Schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of...

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

Dara Calleary: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year. The allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a Child Support Payment...

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. Data in relation to the timeframe for appeals is not produced by county and wait times by 1 month, 3 months etc. are not...

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. Data in relation to the timeframe for appeals is not produced by county and wait times by 1 month, 3 months etc. are also not...

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. Data in relation to the timeframe for appeals is not produced by county and wait times by 1 month, 3 months etc. are not...

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. Data in relation to the timeframe for appeals is not produced by county and wait times by 1 month, 3 months etc. are not...

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

Dara Calleary: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make an Additional Needs Payment (ANP) to help meet expenses that an eligible person cannot pay from their weekly income and personal or household. The ANP scheme is demand led and administered by Community Welfare Officers (CWOs) in the Community Welfare Service (CWS), taking into account the requirements of the...

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

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1813 and 1814 together. My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all customers, ensuring that claims are processed as quickly as possible and that backlogs are kept to a minimum. Processing times for new applications vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. Schemes that require a high level of documentary...