Results 1-20 of 4,731 for more speaker:Heather Humphreys

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) (30 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...works out at about €46.80 per annum, which is an increase of about 0.1%. In September 2021, Sinn Féin's leader, Deputy Mary-Lou McDonald, said the party would increase PRSI by 4%. That is much more than the total of 0.7% I am proposing over five years. I will quote Sinn Féin's leader. She said, "Our proposal is, over the course of a number of budgets, to bring employer...

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) (30 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: In response to Deputy Naughten, the vast majority of carers are women. I provided a pension to carers. Female participation in the workforce has never been higher and I absolutely want more women back working. I launched the updated pathways to work just this Tuesday. There is a significant focus on helping to get people back to work. Regarding the poverty and gender impact analysis,...

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (30 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...requirements. In such circumstances, a claimant will receive 80% of his or her entitlement. Section 68KF sets out the duration for which benefit shall be paid. The main provision in this section provides that it will be paid for up to 39 weeks in the case of a person with 260 or more PRSI contributions, or 26 weeks for a person with fewer than 260 PRSI contributions. This is in line...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (29 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...and budgetary context, including its actual effectiveness in helping people with funeral costs. It is worth noting that there are a range of supports available for people following bereavement which provide more significant support than the former grant. These include weekly-paid Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory and Non-Contributory) pensions,...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (28 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...Bill before Seanad Éireann. I have been very encouraged by the support it has received from across the political spectrum and from stakeholders. Auto-enrolment, AE, has been talked about for more than 25 years in this country. There was a major straw man public consultation on it in 2018. This was followed by a series of Government decisions between 2019 and this year that settled...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (28 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...early 20s has increased, delaying their joining the job market. Some 75% of those aged between 16 and 22 are in full-time education. Young people who do not take up employment are proportionately more likely to be situated at the lower end of the earnings distribution, lower than the AE income threshold. According to PRSI data, only 30,000 people under the age of 23 earn over...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Process (28 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...Provisions) Act 2024 (Chapter 2 of Part 4) (Commencement) Order 2024 (S.I. No. 95 of 2024). Chapter 2 of Part 4 amends section 60 of the International Protection Act 2015 to introduce a more time-limited 90 day accommodation offering for newly arriving Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, and to remove the current equivalence with Irish citizens in terms of accessing social welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (28 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...at the weekly rate of €249.30. Following the introduction of a new calculation method, the 'Total Contribution Approach' in 2019 the person’s claim was reviewed, however it was financially more beneficial for them to remain on the rate awarded using the 'yearly average' calculation. I have arranged for a statement of the person’s social insurance record to issue...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Planning Issues (28 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...currently in place regarding burials and burial grounds, namely Part III of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, as amended in Part VI of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1948 and more recently, the Local Government Acts, 1994 and 2001, and also in the Rules and Regulations for the Regulation of Burial Grounds 1888 and amendments thereto. As previously stated, there are...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (28 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as walking trails, cycleways, water-based recreation sites and mountain trails. Since the launch of the scheme in 2016, funding of over €113 million has supported more than 1,700 projects across the country. At the end of March, I was delighted to announce the approval of 151 successful projects to the value of over €4.1 million...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (23 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...s personal means from any source does not exceed a means test income limit. Where a qualified adult has weekly means of less than €100, the maximum rate of IQA is payable. Where their weekly means are over €100 and not more than €310, a tapering reduced rate of IQA is payable. If the qualified adult has means of more than €310 per week, this exceeds the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Advertising (23 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: For this response, I have interpreted online/digital media to include programmatic and social media advertising. My Department administers more than 90 separate schemes and services, which affect the lives of almost every person in the State. The department is committed to ensuring that members of the public are fully aware of the welfare supports and services that are available, as well as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (23 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...in June (1st June 2023) Live with the person being looked after, or this person can be contacted quickly by a direct system of communication (i.e., a telephone or alarm) Not be employed / self-employed for more than 18.5 hours per week Not be in receipt of, or entitled to receive Jobseeker’s Allowance or Jobseeker’s Benefit or be signing for credited contributions...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Reports (23 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ..., I increased ‘on-the-spot’ fines for offences under the Control of Dogs Act, including trebling the fines for most serious offences from €100 to €300. Multiple fines can be issued where more than one offence occurs. In addition, I announced the establishment of a high level stakeholder group to consider and make recommendations to strengthen policy in...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (23 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as walking trails, cycleways and blue ways throughout rural Ireland. Since the launch of the scheme in 2016, funding of over €113 million has supported more than 1,700 projects across the country. At the end of March last, I was delighted to announce the approval of 151 successful projects to the value of over €4.1 million...

Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Systems Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...body of work. I am sorry that I cannot accept Deputy Sherlock's amendment. I will make it very clear, however, that I do not want to see the displacement of occupational pension schemes either, no more than he does. As a very practical consideration, the amendment cannot be incorporated into the AE Bill at this time as preliminary legal opinion expressed to my officials suggests that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: International Protection (21 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: .... Applicants for international protection have full access to the labour market where they have been awaiting a first instance decision on their application for international protection for six months or more. Where an international protection applicant has been granted access to the labour market, they have access to Working Family Payment and some may qualify for benefit...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (21 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...provide entitlement for illness benefit. In cases where an illness may continue for a prolonged period, disability allowance and invalidity pension are long-term illness related payments which might be more suitable. Illness benefit is funded by the Social Insurance Fund through PRSI contributions. The Fund is central to our social protection system and the Government needs to ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Correspondence (21 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...-term unemployed jobseekers on the Live Register are categorised into groups based on their duration of unemployment (e.g. 1- 2 years, 2 – 3 years etc.). All jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than one year are eligible for selection for the Intreo Partners service and clients are chosen by means of an automated selection process based on a number of criteria such as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (21 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...stated aim of creating a supportive environment for entrepreneurship, including providing an income safety net to employees and the self-employed alike. Self-employed workers who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. This provides them with access to the following...