Results 1,201-1,220 of 14,528 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Primary weekly social welfare payments are intended to enable recipients to meet their basic day-to-day income needs. Payments available to those over 66 include the State Pension (Contributory), State Pension (Non-Contributory) and the Widows, Widowers and Surviving Civil Partners' Contributory Pension. The rate of primary and secondary payments to pensioners, and their adequacy, are...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Department of Social Protection provides income supports through a mixture of contributory payments (which are based on a person's social insurance record) and means-tested social assistance payments. To receive either a contributory or social assistance payment a person must qualify for that payment in their own right.The State Pension (Contributory) requires 520 (equivalent to 10 years)...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Overpayments of social welfare entitlements can occur where a person provides false or misleading information in their application or through error on the part of either the claimant or the Department. 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. The table below sets out...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Process (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Under the law as currently enacted, entitlement to a Widows, Widowers or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory pension is only available to a surviving partner who was party to a marriage or civil partnership. As the Deputy is aware, on 22nd January 2024, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the entitlement of an unmarried cohabitant to a Widows, Widowers or Surviving...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Control of Dogs (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: In late 2022, a cross-government review of legislation regarding dogs was undertaken and later in 2023, an inter-agency working group on the control of dogs issue was established. One of the recommendations of this group was the funding of a targeted neutering scheme for dogs. In this regard, my Department provided funding of €152,500 between three charities, to support already...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Administrative Arrangements (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: As announced by the Taoiseach on 23rd January last, there will be a reconfiguration in the make-up of my Department, in particular, bringing the Gaeltacht function into the Department of Rural and Community Development. My officials are currently liaising with the other relevant Departments and are preparing Statutory Instruments to effect the Transfer of Functions and the new...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Bodies (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: There are currently four agencies under my Department’s remit: the Western Development Commission, Pobal, Irish Water Safety, and the Charities Regulator. The Western Development Commission, Pobal and Irish Water Safety each receive an Exchequer budget and details can be found under Vote 42 in the Revised Estimates Volume 2024 at the link below. Pobal is a not-for-profit...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Bodies (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Officials in my department work with the Public Appointment Service (PAS) who have responsibility for managing an open, accessible, rigorous and transparent system to support Ministers in making appointments to State boards. Board positions are advertised and recruited via www.stateboards.ie Detailed below are the current board vacancies in the agencies and bodies under the aegis of my...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department provides funding through a range of highly impactful schemes and programmes aimed at supporting sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities. Budget 2025 provided my Department with a gross allocation of €472 million. This allocation provides for €212 million in funding for rural development and €260 million in funding for community development. My...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), is our country’s primary social inclusion programme, which aims to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality by supporting disadvantaged communities and individuals. This is a national programme that is delivered in both rural and urban areas by Local Development Companies (LDCs) to help those in the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Strategies (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: In August 2019, my Department launched Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities, a five-year whole of government strategy to support the community and voluntary sector in Ireland. The Strategy set a general direction of travel for government policy in relation to the community development, local development and the community and voluntary sectors. The high-level objectives and actions...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: In June last year, a new round of funding was announced to support community groups to upgrade and refurbish the community facilities in their areas. The Community Centre Investment Fund 2024 will provide funding of between €10,000 and €100,000 towards capital costs for the refurbishment of existing community centres. In November, just over €7.6 million was approved...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (20 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: In June last year, a new round of funding was announced to support community groups to upgrade and refurbish the community facilities in their areas. The Community Centre Investment Fund 2024 will provide funding of between €10,000 and €100,000 towards capital costs for the refurbishment of existing community centres. In November, just over €7.6 million was approved...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Weather Events (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, administered by my department through the local Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders across the country affected by Storm Éowyn. The purpose of the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme is to provide financial support to people whose homes are damaged and who are not able to meet costs for essential...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Measures (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 140 together. The Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit scheme is a new social insurance income support which replaces Jobseeker's Benefit for people who lose their employment from 31 March 2025. Pay-related benefit means that the amount of benefit an eligible person receives when they become unemployed will be directly linked to their previous...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (19 Feb 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...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (19 Feb 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. The Hot School Meal programme is a subset of the wider School Meals Programme and is available to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (19 Feb 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. The table below shows a breakdown of average processing times for the period 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024 on a number of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (19 Feb 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...

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

Dara Calleary: The Department has a robust governance process in place to assure the proper control of expenditure. Aside from standard operating costs related to the day to day delivery of welfare and employment schemes and services the Department's capital development programmes fall into two categories - accommodation and facilities which are managed and accounted for by the Office of Public Works,...