Results 20,261-20,280 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Income Inequality (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Government’s strategy for addressing social exclusion and poverty is set out in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 (NAPinclusion). This Plan identifies a wide range of targeted actions and interventions with an ambition to achieve an overall objective of reducing poverty under the national social target for poverty reduction. NAPinclusion was recently...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Pensions Authority, under the Pensions Act 1990, is the regulator for occupational pension schemes in Ireland. The Authority provides a wide range of information and guidance to help and support trustees to comply with their regulatory obligations as set out under legislation. The Authority, in consultation with my Department, is continually assessing governance issues and making...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery through effective policies. In doing so it is hoped to promote competitiveness and productivity. Reflecting the impact of government policy, and the overall improvement in the labour market, youth unemployment continues to fall with a rate of 15.1% (30,500) in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fit for Work Programme (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The programme for a partnership government provides for a range of actions that are designed to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. One of these actions is a commitment to develop a programme to support more people to get back to work if they have an illness or disability. The commitment envisaged that the programme is being led by the Departments of Health and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Eligibility (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Self-employed persons, 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 benefits: State pension (contributory) and Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension (contributory), Guardian’s Payment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The rate of payment to a person of the State pension contributory is related to contributions made over the years into the Social Insurance Fund by the person. As such, those with a stronger attachment to the workforce, and who have paid more into that fund, are more likely to be paid under this scheme. Under the scheme, entitlement is calculated by means of a ‘yearly average’...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 317 together. The average appeal processing time for appeals determined in 2015 and to date in 2016 broken down by all social welfare scheme types is outlined in the following tables. Significant effort and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeals process in recent years resulting in a marked improvement in overall appeal processing times....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Family Income Supplement (FIS) is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for low paid employees with children. FIS is designed to tackle child and family poverty and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment as compared to social welfare payments. There are over 56,000 families with over 124,000 children in receipt of FIS. The estimated spend on FIS this year is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Services Provision (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The overall objective of the 2015 Disability Allowance Survey was to inform the design of supports and interventions which will assist people in receipt of the allowance to participate in the labour force according to their capacity. In doing so, the survey explored the work experience and ambitions of disability allowance (DA) recipients. The survey found that 13% of DA recipients are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The State pension contributory is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Therefore, it is important to ensure that those qualifying have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement to a State pension, all contributions paid or credited over their working...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Payments (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The jobseeker’s benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative employment. It is a fundamental qualifying condition for these schemes that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking full-time work as well as being fully unemployed for at least four in any seven consecutive days. In the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 268 and 269 together. The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government is the lead Department for severe weather emergencies and the Office of Public Works (OPW) has responsibility for capital flood relief activities. However, the Department of Social Protection has an important role to play in assisting households in the immediate...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Applications (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Carer's benefit (CARB) is a PRSI based payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require that level of care. It is payable for a maximum of 104 weeks for each person being cared for. CARB was awarded to the person concerned for 85 weeks from 18 July 2013 to 4 March 2015. She re-applied for the balance of 19 weeks...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Enterprise Support Schemes (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department operates two schemes providing financial and business assistance for people on certain social protection payments who wish to become self-employed - the Short Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA) and the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA). The STEA provides immediate access to those who qualify for jobseekers benefit wishing to set up a business. Payment under the scheme is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Payments (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The family income supplement (FIS) claim of the person in question was due for renewal from 14 September 2016. The information supplied with the renewal claim evidenced that the person concerned was not working the required number of hours per week in order to re-qualify for FIS so the renewal claim was disallowed by a deciding officer (DO). The person concerned appealed that decision...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department provides a range of activation supports and programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. These include programmes such as Community Employment (CE) and Tús. As the Deputy will be aware, CE schemes provide part-time temporary work in their local communities, including opportunities for training and development as...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Appeals (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to hold an oral hearing in this case on 30 November 2016. The person concerned has been notified of the arrangements for the hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Payments (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned is awarded family income supplement (FIS) from 11 February 2016 to 8 February 2017 at a weekly rate of €137 as appropriate to her family size. The rules governing the payment of FIS state that, once FIS is granted, it is payable for a 52 week period as long as the underlying employment conditions are satisfied and regardless of changes in circumstances. There...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Water Conservation Grant Data (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Department of Social Protection is administering the 2015 Water Conservation Grant on behalf of the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. As of 21 November 2016, a total of 890,098 grant applications had been submitted by householders and processed. The total amount paid to householders to date is €89,009,800. A small number of residual payments...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Work Initiatives (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, Tús was set up to provide short-term work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. It is designed to break the cycle of unemployment and maintain work readiness, thereby improving a person’s opportunities of returning to the labour market. In addition, as a community work placement scheme, Tús provides valuable services...