Results 2,341-2,360 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Carer’s allowance (CA) was in payment to the person concerned from 11 October 2012 to 7 June 2017 in respect of one care recipient. It is a condition for receipt of a CA that the carer is not engaged in employment or self-employment outside their home. However, where a carer can show to the satisfaction of a deciding officer that adequate provision has been made for the care of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Back to Education Allowance Scheme (BTEA) is designed to support second chance education. It enables eligible persons to pursue approved education courses and to continue to receive income support for the duration of a course of study, subject to meeting certain conditions. Access to BTEA at postgraduate level is available to persons who wish to pursue a postgraduate course of study...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Data (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Government policy on the promotion of employment is a matter for the Minister for Business Enterprise and Innovation and is set out in the Action Plan for Jobs. According to the Central Statistics Office, the average annual level of employment for recent years in the sectors referred to is as set out in tabular form below. Annual average employment ('000) - Manufacturing Services 2011...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Data (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The following table shows the number of carers receiving carer's allowance (CA) at the end of each year from 2011 to 2016 The CA scheme has seen a considerable increase in applications in recent years; applications for CA in 2016 were 20% higher than in 2015. Claims received to the end of August 2017 have increased by 16% on the same period in 2016. I hope this clarifies the matter for the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The requested information has been provided in a tabular format for the principal Social Welfare schemes below. Carer's Allowance Year Pending Year Start Registered Awarded Rejected Withdrawn Pending Year End 2016 5,461 22,722 19,308 11,144 1,429 3,490 2015 4,461 18,929 14,378 7,920 1,888 5,461 2014 2,719 17,759 12,560 7,078 1,610 4,461 2013 8,553 12,060 16,011 9,881 2,529 2,719 2012...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Housing Assistance Payment (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 733 to 735, inclusive, together. Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme currently supporting 38,600 recipients at a cost of €253 million in 2017. The scheme is being administered to take account of the on-going rental market difficulties through the implementation of a targeted case-by-case...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Unemployment Levels (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Government’s primary strategy to tackle unemployment – including long-term unemployment and youth unemployment – is twofold. The Action Plan for Jobs supports continuing strong economic recovery and employment growth. Policies and actions to ensure that unemployed people benefit from the increase in employment are set out in the strategy paper Pathways to Work...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Chief Appeals Officer that the management and reduction of appeal processing times is a key priority which is kept under constant scrutiny. Tables showing the average appeal processing times for all appeals determined from 2014 to date in 2017 broken down by all social welfare scheme types are attached below. The Deputy will be aware from previous replies that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Unemployment Data (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The official measure of unemployment is sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). Measures of unemployment from the QNHS are based on International Labour Office (ILO) definitions. To be ‘ILO unemployed’ a person must in the week before the survey be without work but available for work and have recently taken specific job-search steps. The Live Register,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Government is committed to encouraging self-employment and entrepreneurship. This includes enhancing the position of the self-employed through a supportive tax regime and, very importantly, improving the level of PRSI based benefits available to self-employed people. Self-employed persons are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4% which covers them for access long-term benefits...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department currently provides a number of income supports to lone parents. These include the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) until the youngest child is 7 years of age and the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (JST) payment where the youngest child is aged 7-13 years. The Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) payment can also be paid to lone parents where the youngest child is aged 14...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my Department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 8 August 2017. 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 Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Expenditure on pensions, at approximately €7.3 billion, is the largest block of expenditure in my Department. Demographic change alone will increase this by over €220 million this year. The ‘marriage bar’ describes a rule that existed in most of the public service and some private sector employments, where women were required to leave their employment upon...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance Payments (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Self-employed people 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 a range of social insurance benefits including state pension (contributory) and widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s pension (contributory),...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Applications (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my Department received an application for carer’s benefit from the person concerned on 8 August 2017. 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 Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Living Alone Allowance (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The information requested (where available) by the Deputy is detailed in the following table Recipients of Living Alone Allowances by Scheme and Gender 31 August 2017 Scheme Male Female Total Disability Allowance 17,735 10,828 28,563 Invalidity Pension 4,971 4,692 9,663 State Pension (Non-Contributory) Pension 13,174 19,922 33,096 State Pension (Contributory) 38,166 34,291 72,457...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: At the end of July there were a total of almost 2 million recipients of a payment from my Department benefitting over 1.7 million children. A detailed breakdown by scheme (where available) is attached for the Deputy’s information. Number of Recipients and Children benefitting from a Social Welfare payment at 31 July 2017 Scheme Recipients Full Rate Qualified Child Increase Half Rate...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to low income households, at an estimated cost of €229 million in 2017. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 220, 221, 224 and 229 together. The cost of increasing the qualified child increase by €3.20, from €29.80 to €33 per week, is estimated at €62.4 million in 2018 and a full year. This includes the costs associated with the Back to Work Family Dividend (€2.3 million), the weekly rate of which is based on the rate of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (21 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Family Income Supplement (FIS) is an in-work support, which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. FIS is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependants and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. There are currently nearly 57,000 families with more than 126,000 children in receipt of FIS. The estimated spend...