Results 2,821-2,840 of 5,587 for speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (23 Oct 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: Funding of €373 million has been secured for Community Employment schemes in 2015 which will fund 25,500 places across the country in over 1,000 projects. CE schemes in the health and social care sector provide a range of supports to caring organisations in the provision of services to local communities. The main sponsors are organisations in the disability and caring sectors. The...

Other Questions: Housing Assistance Payments Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for his question. He is correct to say there are approximately 73,500 people in receipt of rent supplement, almost 49,000 of whom are in receipt of the supplement for over 18 months. The Department’s strategic policy direction is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of a short-term income support scheme. Under the new housing assistance payment, HAP,...

Other Questions: Housing Assistance Payments Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: To take the last question first, the protocol has been operating very well in conjunction with the local authorities and Threshold. So far, over 200 people have been assisted. I will send on further details, if the Deputy wants-----

Other Questions: Housing Assistance Payments Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The protocol has been recognised by the local authorities, Threshold and the families who have engaged with it as successful in maintaining people in homes, which is always extremely important. On the other question, the Deputy is correct that the intention of the Government is that we transfer 8,000 to the HAP by the end of 2015, but, as he well knows, that does not cover the full term of...

Other Questions: Housing Assistance Payments Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I am trying to answer the Deputy's direct questions, one of which was where would a person be on the transfer list if they were to be included in the HAP scheme. The transfer list reflects the specific priority a resident had on the waiting list. As far as I know, the local authorities have been notified by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in this regard. ...

Other Questions: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I will try to answer as many questions as I can directly. This question follows on from Deputy Thomas P. Broughan's question. The Department is undertaking a review of rent limits. An analysis shows that the impact of increasing limits will yield only a very marginal increase in available supply for rent supplement recipients, with little or no new housing available to new recipients. I...

Other Questions: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The budget provided €344 million for that area. I do not call €344 million bugger all. There is, however, a real problem and we have to explore different ways of addressing it. One of the strong ways of engaging is through the local authorities. Too many homes belonging to local authorities are boarded up and it has been a key priority over the past weeks and months to...

Other Questions: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I do not want to concentrate too much on one specific area because a number of issues needs to be addressed. Certainly voids are an element, however. I do not like using the word "void", which is a technical term employed by local authorities. These are boarded up homes. The local authorities will get their share of the €2.2 billion that is being put into the situation. I...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The community services programme (CSP) is designed to support not-for-profit companies and co-operatives to address identified gaps in service delivery, support disadvantaged communities and ensure that community facilities are utilised. The programme is funded by the Department with day-to-day management of contracts undertaken by Pobal. Around 400 not-for-profit companies and co-operatives...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: Given the scale of unemployment, the key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives has been to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. Accordingly the employment services and schemes provided by the Department are focused in the first instance on the cohort of people who are unemployed and in receipt of a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 181, 201 and 241 together. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. There are approximately 73,500 rent supplement recipients for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: As of 3rdNovember 2014, there are 1,350 supervisors employed by CE sponsoring organisations. The number of supervisors estimated to reach State Pension retirement age in each of the following years, (based on the population as of 3rdNovember 2014) is: - 2015 - 47 - 2016 - 52 - 2017 - 35 The Department does not provide funding to CE Sponsoring organisations for the employment of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobsPlus Scheme (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees who were previously in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment for over 12 months. It is biased in favour of those who are longer-term unemployed and provides employers with two levels of payment: €7,500 over two years where a jobseeker who is 12-24 months on the live register is recruited and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme Eligibility (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support for farmers and those engaged in the fishing sectors that have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments and to support the delivery of needed services to rural communities. The scheme currently provides work opportunities for around 2,600 participants. Údarás na Gaeltachta has an RSS allocation of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The Budget of 2012 announced the disqualification from certain welfare payments for welfare recipients while participating on Community Employment (CE). Up until 16thJanuary 2012, certain social welfare payments could be retained in part or in full when participating on CE. The CE personal rate of €208.00 was applicable to these participants (as any dependants were covered under the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 218, 231 and 237 together. The objective of the Youth Guarantee is to ensure that young people receive a quality offer of assistance within four months of becoming unemployed. This objective is to be achieved over time by enhancing and prioritising the Intreo engagement with newly unemployed young people, and by maintaining and developing the current range of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Registration of Births (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I am informed by the General Register Office (GRO) that on 23rdOctober 2014 an application was received for the late registration of a birth for the individual referred to by the Deputy. The application is currently being investigated and the GRO wrote to the applicant on 28th October 2014 requesting the completion of a statutory declaration required for this application. When all...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (4 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The Government’s policy direction on labour market activation and stimulating employment growth is set out in Pathways to Work and the Action Plan for Jobs respectively. These policies are at the core of the Government’s strategies to get Ireland working again. The strategy outlined in Pathways to Work is devised to ensure new job opportunities are made available to people on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (5 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (5 Nov 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The following table details the breakdown by county of Community Employment participants and Supervisors as of 3rdNovember 2014. County Total Carlow 408 Cavan 300 Clare 566 Cork 2,133 Donegal 1,186 Dublin 6,061 Galway 1,536 Kerry 1,009 Kildare 880 Kilkenny 456 Laois 302 Leitrim 186 Limerick 1,231 Longford 328 Louth 825 Mayo 779 Meath 522 Monaghan 416 Offaly 370 Roscommon...