Results 20,101-20,120 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme Data (16 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support to farmers and fishermen and women who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments. The Government, as part of the budget package for 2017, announced 500 additional places on the scheme which will increase the overall number to 3,100. A request for expressions of interest in additional RSS places was...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We have carried out a review of the community employment, Gateway and Tús programmes. I should be in a position to publish it in the coming weeks. I wish to point out two things. People spend a year on Tús. It is important that they do not spend too long on Tús, because people on Tús are supposed to move on to employment. We do not want people to spend their lives...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 173 together. JobPath is an employment activation service that supports people who are long-term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. Participants on JobPath receive intensive individual support to help them tackle barriers to employment and to assist them in finding full-time...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Training Support Grant (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Training Support Grant (TSG) provided by my Department is designed to fund quick access to short-term training where this cannot be provided by a state provider within a reasonable time or where an intervention is identified that can support individual jobseekers to access work opportunities. The maximum fund available to jobseekers under the scheme is €500 p.a. Access to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes Data (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is not available in respect of all eligible schemes and is not routinely collated by my Department in the format requested. I am however informed that at the end of October there were in excess of 53,600 recipients of payments of the schemes detailed in the attached tabular statement. This figure is based on the information communicated to my...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Education and Training Boards (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives has been to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. Accordingly the employment services and schemes provided by the Department are focused in the first instance on the cohort of people who are unemployed and in receipt of a social welfare payment (either...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my Department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 12 July 2016. Additional information was requested on 5 October 2016. Once the information is received the application will be processed without delay and she will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my Department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on 5 October 2016. The application is currently being processed and once completed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme Applications (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware the purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support to farmers and fishermen and women who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments. The Government, as part of the budget package for 2017, announced 500 additional places on the scheme which will increase the overall number to 3,100. A request for expressions of interest...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Rent supplement continues to play a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme currently supporting some 49,700 recipients for which the Government has provided €267 million for in 2016. The policy direction of my Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose, that of a short-term income support scheme for those who are temporarily...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2016 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of €85 million on the farm assist scheme. Budget 2017 introduces new measures in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Department of Social Protection completed a report on the Community Employment (CE) Programme in late 2015. This report was completed in the context of the Government’s activation strategy Pathways to Work and meets the Department’s commitment to analysing CE, as the largest employment programme, and to ensuring the delivery of services, value for money and progression of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The rate of payment of the State pension (contributory) is related to contributions made over years into the Social Insurance Fund. As such, those with a stronger attachment to the workforce, who have paid more into that fund, are more likely to be paid under that scheme. There are a number of criteria which must be satisfied in order to qualify for a State pension contributory. One of the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I apologise for the delay in starting. There was crash involving a truck on the M50 and then it started to snow. Of course, these things never happened when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, but they do on occasion. The Deputy is correct. This section simply extends access to invalidity pension to self-employed persons and will not take effect until December 2017. I would...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There were three bereavement grants available at one stage. There was the general bereavement grant that almost everyone received and which was abolished by the previous Government. There is a bereavement payment in cases involving the death of a person in the course of work. It is PRSI related. If a person dies in the course of his or her work or even on the way to work, the payment is...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised by my officials that the Deputy is correct. References to the bereavement grant remain in the Bill, but it is not a live scheme. I guess one might say the Bill still makes legislative provision for it, but the payment is zero. We will retain the provision in law in order that the payment may be restored in the future.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputies points are well made. In the course of the budget negotiations my efforts were initially aimed at ensuring that there would be a €5 increase in the basic maximum payments for all recipients and that this would be the case across the board. That was my first priority. My second priority was that the increase would be €5. My third priority was that it would be put...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: This is provided for in the Estimates. The intention is that from March self-employed people will have access to the free dental check and eye test for the first time, just as employees do. Then, from October, everyone, including self-employed and employed, in other words all contributors to PRSI, will once again have access to scale and polish treatment for teeth as well as subsidised eye...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am a great believer in social insurance and the contributory principle. This is the idea that everyone pays into the system. Everyone should pay social insurance, even if it is only a small amount. In return, everyone should benefit. We run the risk in this society of dividing society into a group of people who pay a lot of taxes and get little in return, because they are excluded due...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is a fair question and the Deputy did not mishear me. Discussions have taken place at official level and I will be involved further discussions in the next week or two. It is my strong view that before entering negotiations - technically, under competition legislation, they are probably not negotiations - or discussions with a professional body, we should first come to the House and...