Results 20,861-20,880 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (24 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In the preparation of this year’s Budget, I gave consideration to a number of approaches to improve the position of social welfare recipients generally and to make the social insurance system more comprehensive. As part of this consideration, I took account of the views of members of the Oireachtas and a wide range of welfare representative groups including those relating to the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (24 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The numbers of Dental Benefit claims paid in each of the last five years are as follows: Year Dental Benefit claims 2012 270,600 2013 298,700 2014 310,350 2015 312,700 2016 319,600 Stats are compiled on a monthly basis, those relating to January 2017 are not yet collated.

Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: First, it is important to say there is no statutory retirement age in Ireland. No one is required to retire at any particular age in Ireland. However, some people have employment contracts that require them to retire earlier than they might like to. Often, the requirement is at 65 years of age. That requirement is no longer aligned with the pension age, which is 66 years of age. In...

Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to answer that for the Deputy. He is right to point out that there have been more additional places in Mayo than in Cork and that Cork has a much higher population than Mayo. Of course, Dublin has a higher population than Cork. There are more than 1 million people in Dublin and I allocated no additional places to the rural social scheme in Dublin

Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Let me finish. If the Deputy wants the answer to the question, he may need to listen because it is not based on population. In order to qualify for the rural social scheme, an applicant must be in receipt of farm assist or fish assist. We took the number of people who are on farm assist or fish assist across the country and broke down the percentage proportionately on that basis. As the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The household benefits package (HHB) comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. My Department will spend approximately €232 million this year on HHB for over 424,000 customers. The package is generally available to people living in the State aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I can confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 16 February 2016. This application was refused on the grounds that the disability of the care recipient was not such that there was a requirement for full-time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. The person concerned was notified on 20 June 2016 of this decision,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Delays (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. The average waiting time for new carer's allowance (CA) applications at the end of December 2016 was 11 weeks. At the end of December, there were 3,490 CA applications awaiting decision....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Emergency Accommodation Data (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is considered the "safety net" within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. The main purpose of the scheme is to provide immediate and flexible assistance for those in need who do not qualify for payment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobPath Implementation (25 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, JobPath is an employment activation service for people who are long-term unemployed (LTU) and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. Clients are randomly selected for participation and the protocols for selection currently preclude the selection of anyone who has already completed JobPath within the...

Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to answer that. It is a matter that is still under negotiation between my Department, the relevant unions and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. We are confident that we will have the matter resolved in the near future.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: To qualify for a State pension (contributory), a person must satisfy a number of qualifying conditions which include commencing insurable employment at least 10 years before pension age, having a minimum of 520 qualifying PRSI contributions and achieving a yearly average of at least 10 qualifying contributions, paid or credited, over their working life. Social insurance contributions...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned incurred a carer’s allowance debt amounting to €14,436.20 from 2 December 2010 to 11 January 2012. She had recently been repaying this debt by way of a €10.00 weekly deduction from her jobseeker’s allowance (JA). To date €2,052.80 has been repaid leaving a balance outstanding of €12,383.40. As the person concerned was recently...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Rights (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: ‘Disguised employment’ is a broad term which refers to the incorrect classification of a worker for PRSI purposes, which in turn can affect their entitlement to social insurance benefits. It can also affect the tax liability of a worker. Examples of disguised employment include the use of intermediary type structures and various forms of ‘dependent’...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance 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. My department informs me that, to date, no application for CA has been received from the person concerned. Accordingly, I have arranged for an application form (CR1) to issue, which he...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: An application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 3 February 2016. As a result of an appeals officer’s decision, CA was awarded to the person concerned on 24 January 2017 and the first payment will issue to his nominated bank account on 2 February 2017. Arrears for the period 4 February 2016 to 1 February 2017 have also issued to his nominated bank....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Administration (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. In general, maternity claims are processed within 6 weeks of receipt at present. I would encourage maternity benefit customers to submit their applications as early as possible and use the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Paternity Benefit Administration (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Paternity benefit is a new scheme introduced in September 2106. To support the scheme a new technical platform that is capable of accepting online applications and supporting officer decision...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The requirements for the allocation of a Personal Public Service (PPS) Number are: - acceptable evidence of identity, which for Canadian citizens is a current valid passport; - evidence as to why a PPS Number is required (i.e., to carry out a transaction with a State body specified in legislation as permitted to use the PPS Number); and - acceptable evidence of address (e.g., a utility bill...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (26 Jan 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 27thJanuary 2017, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...