Results 22,121-22,140 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has arrangements in place to assist with member tracing. Where the administrator of a pension scheme or a life company is unable to trace a member using their own resources they can use my Department’s host mailing service. Following discussions between my Department, the Pensions Authority and the Irish Association of Pension Funds, a revised protocol was put in place...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 151, 152 and 156 together. The costings sought by the Deputy are detailed in the following series of tables. Table 1: Cost of increasing the reduced rate payable to Jobseeker’s Allowance and Supplementary Welfare Allowance recipients aged 18 to 24 years of age Increasing the weekly rate of €102.70 (payable to 18 to 24 year olds) to: Cost ...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: School Meals Programme (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,460 schools and organisations benefitting over 200,000 children at a total cost of some €47.7 million in 2017. The funding for the scheme was increased this year, as part of Budget 2017, by an additional €5.7 million (almost 14% over the previous year’s allocation) which will benefit over...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: When works were being carried out to existing buildings to convert them to Intreo Centres, universal accessibility was incorporated into the design where it was feasible. In a small number of situations it was not feasible to incorporate full universal accessibility as part of the Intreo roll out. My Department is in contact with the OPW in relation to these particular offices and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The following table details the various schemes operated by my Department and the financial allocations by scheme for 2017 (as published in the 2017 REV estimates): DSP: DETAILED PROGRAMME EXPENDITURE BY SCHEME/SERVICE - [VOTE 37 + SIF] - Expenditure Breakdown 2017 Rev ADMINISTRATION A1 Administration - Pay 294,703 A2 Administration - Non-Pay 254,910 Social Insurance Fund non-DSP...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Data (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: There are currently 82 staff members (77.65 FTE) working in the Social Welfare Appeals Office. 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. The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The Government has provided €37.4 million for the scheme in 2017. End of year records show that under the 2016 BSCFA scheme, payments were made to over 154,000 families in respect of some 283,000...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme Eligibility (25 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is a supplementary income support initiative which provides part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for low-income farmers and fishermen/women who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and under-employed in their primary occupation. The Government is very committed to the RSS and this commitment was clearly...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Data (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The following table shows the staffing levels in my Department at 31 December for each year requested. The increase in staffing in 2011 and 2012 is primarily as a result of the integration of staff and functions from the former FAS and the Community Welfare Service of the HSE. Year Posts People 2011 5,965.57 6394 2012 6,732.34 7154 2013 6,569.86 6997 2014 6,555.20 6962 2015 6,497.79...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Recruitment (30 May 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. Within these constraints, the Department is focusing on prioritising the filling of critical posts. My Department is committed to providing a quality...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Eligibility (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned applied for Family Income Supplement (FIS) and the application was registered on 28 February 2017. At the time of application, the person concerned had been in receipt of Illness Benefit (IB) which was in suspension at the time of the FIS application. FIS Section wrote to the person concerned on 8 March 2017 advising that IB should be closed before FIS could proceed...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Commencement of Legislation (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Section 13 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 provides for a record of deaths abroad. I have been in contact with my colleague, the Minister for Health in relation to the commencement of this provision and others which had been delayed due to industrial action in the HSE. At this point, I am not in a position to provide a date for commencement but I would like to reassure the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Applications (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned has been awarded maternity benefit at a weekly rate of €235.00 commencing from 10 April 2017. As her claim was processed late she was due arrears of maternity benefit payment, from which the amount paid under the illness benefit scheme had to be deducted. This arises as maternity benefit and illness benefit cannot be paid simultaneously. Accordingly, a net...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The aim of the JobPath service, which is provided for jobseekers only, is to assist them in finding sustainable full time paid employment. Each person referred to the JobPath service is allocated a personal advisor who provides intensive individual support and assistance. When a jobseeker with JobPath finds employment, they will be supported by the JobPath Company for at least the first 13...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Where a person applying for a State pension (contributory) was, in addition to having been employed in Ireland, employed in another EU Member State, or in a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, their insured periods in those countries may be combined with their Irish insurance to assess their entitlement to a pro-rata State pension (contributory). In addition...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my Department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 12 April 2017. Additional information in relation to the person’s application has been requested by a deciding officer on 25 May 2017.Once the information is received the application will be processed without delay and the person concerned will be notified directly of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Department does not keep details of the number of employees per company based on company size as requested in your question, so the information requested by the Deputy is not available. There are currently 57,090 customers in receipt of Family Income Supplement. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: When processing applications for Family Income Supplement (FIS), my Department records the applicant’s occupation but not the sector of industry in which the applicant works, so the information requested by the Deputy is not available. The accuracy of the information recorded in respect of occupation is dependent on the information provided by the customer in their application. Where...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The following table sets out the number of persons in receipt of the family income support payment by county to date in 2017: County 2017 to Date CARLOW 954 CAVAN 1,268 CLARE 1,288 CORK 6,025 DONEGAL 2,708 DUBLIN 13,462 GALWAY 2,714 KERRY 1,720 KILDARE 2,356 KILKENNY 979 LAOIS 1,059 LEITRIM 365 LIMERICK 2,467 LONGFORD 771 LOUTH 2,185 MAYO 1,590 MEATH 2,293 MONAGHAN 1,115...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (30 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The following table sets out the age profile of recipients of Family Income Supplement (FIS) to date in 2017: Table Number of Recipients of Family Income Supplement by Age, 2017 Age Total 15 years 0 16 years 0 17 years 0 18 years 0 19 years 3 20 years 20 21 years 56 22 years 102 23 years 244 24 years 385 25 to 29 years 4,504 30 to 34 years 9,758 35 to 39 years 13,842 40 to...