Results 21,661-21,680 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 86 together. Community Employment (CE) Supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector. The period for which a CE Sponsor contracts with the Supervisor is, therefore, a matter between those two parties. In general, it is important that supervisor contracts reflect that the positions are subject to continued...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Protection Entitlements (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Maternity leave is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality. Maternity Benefit is paid by my Department for the duration of statutory maternity leave and is based on payment of PRSI contributions while working. The current entitlement to maternity leave is 26 weeks paid with 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave also available. The Programme for Government...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The current rate bands applying to the State pension (contributory) were introduced from September 2012, replacing the rates introduced in 2000. The new rate bands reflect the social insurance contributions history of a person more closely, although alternative payments are available for those with small additional means. It is estimated that to revert to the previous bands would cost at...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Administration (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department provides a range of activation supports catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. These supports include the JobPath service and employment programmes such as the Community Employment (CE) scheme and Tús. It is worth highlighting that CE and Tús have always been outsourced to private...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Support Services (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In Ireland, people with disabilities of working age are only half as likely to be in work as their non-disabled peers. Employment is central to independence and social integration and offers the best protection against poverty. This Government is committed to helping more people with disabilities to enter the workforce and move from welfare to work. My Department provides a wide range of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Citizen Information Services (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The board of Citizens Information Board (CIB) wants to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and responsiveness of its services. It aims to do this by restructuring the governance arrangements from 93 local company boards to a reduced 16 regional company board model. This will allow resources to be redirected from the current heavy administrative burden to front line service delivery. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 87 together. Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting 44,800 recipients at a cost of €253 million in 2017. Rent supplement is a statutory means tested scheme which is payable at differentiated rates of payment taking into account the applicant’s means and their...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The speech referred to was made, not by me, but by my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Pascal O’Donohue. In his speech, Minister Donohue did not outline plans for a basic income. Rather, speaking in the context of possibletotal displacement of labour from large parts of the economy (by advances in robotics), the Minister included the concept of a basic income...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The social insurance fund (SIF) had a surplus of €453 million in 2016. It should be noted that as a result of demographic pressures, expenditure on pensions increases by approximately €1 billion every five years, and this is without taking account of any rate increases. An Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund is currently being carried out, which will assess the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Provision (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: To date, my Department has issued over 2.5 million Public Services Cards (PSC) and it is the Department’s intention, with the assistance of increased demand from other public bodies, to issue a further 500,000 by the end of 2017. The issuance of PSCs is part of a large, complex, multi-year project called SAFE. The project aims to provide all public bodies with a substantial level...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Authentication (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In conjunction with a number of other Government Departments a rules based standard for establishing and authenticating an individual’s identity for the purposes of access to public services called SAFE was developed in the early-mid 2000s. SAFE registration, based primarily on a face-to-face engagement, is the most robust identity registration process in the State and consequently...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Redeployment (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department, like all Government departments and agencies, is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget, which for this Department has involved reductions in staff numbers. The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I gave a commitment at Dáil report stage of the Social Welfare Bill 2016 that I would ask my officials to examine the issue of jobseeker’s benefit and the treatment of part-time and seasonal workers, including those categorised as having subsidiary employment. As a result, my Department is currently undertaking two reports – one in relation to the subsidiary employment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to provide income support for low income farmers. It replaced the former smallholders’ unemployment assistance payment. In line with the then existing arrangements for unemployment assistance (including smallholders) and pre-retirement allowance, the income of farm assist recipients was exempt from class S PRSI for self-employed workers....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Artists' Remuneration (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: One of the initiatives announced as part of the Creative Ireland Programmewhich was launched by the Taoiseach in December was that the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in conjunction with my Department would devise a mechanism during 2017 to assist self-employed artists who have applied for Jobseeker’s Allowance. I have been in contact with my...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to state that the current arrangements for social security between Ireland and the UK have not changed. All social welfare payments, including pensions, continue to be paid as normal. Furthermore, social security arrangements between the UK and the EU27 also have not changed. The future operation of arrangements will, of course, be determined as part of the complex...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2015 shows that the deprivation rate for lone parent households fell from 58.7% in 2014 to 57.9% in 2015. The full impact of the recovery is not reflected in these figures. Macro-economic and labour market indicators show continued economic and employment growth. The social impact assessment of Budget 2017 showed that average...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Data (11 Apr 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. During 2016, the CA section which is based in my Department’s office in Longford, processed 31,881 applications. Each decision notice offered the recipient a right of review...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Budget 2017 (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My priority in Budget 2017 was to help ensure that everyone benefits from the recovery - including retired people, people with disabilities, carers, lone parents, farmers and people who are unemployed. In doing this I sought to balance the improvements to social welfare payments with measures designed to make sure that the system also works for people who are in employment, including...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Expenditure (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme 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 under other State schemes. Supports provided under the SWA scheme can consist of a...