Results 3,021-3,040 of 5,587 for speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (10 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: JobBridge was introduced to provide opportunities for jobseekers to gain real workplace experience and is not an unemployment support payment. As at 4 December, 2014, 35,833 individual internships had commenced, and 6,729 individuals were actually on internships. An independent evaluation of the scheme found that 61% of interns had moved into employment 5 or more months after finishing...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payments (10 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €31.3 million for the scheme in 2014. In 2012 a Departmental working group made up of staff...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (10 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The Government decided in 1997 to approve the redevelopment of Ballymun and a regeneration programme commenced in 1998. The provision of rent supplement in the Ballymun designated area was identified by housing authorities as a risk to the tenure diversity objective of the project which is to achieve a more balanced tenure mix by providing additional private market housing. In response to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (10 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: Tús, the community work placement initiative introduced during 2011, was established to provide short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. As of the week ending 5 December 2014. 7,892 jobseekers are engaged on Tús. Since its commencement some 23,000 jobseekers have participated on this initiative. A key feature of Tús is that...

Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: What did the Deputy say?

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 43 and 47 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 71,800 rent supplement recipients for which the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Funding (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The training budget for Community Employment (CE) in 2014 is €5.8m. Each DSP Division is allocated an overall training budget for schemes. There is flexibility that can be applied in the approval of training rates, particularly when the training is leading to a Major Award e.g. in childcare. However, each Division has to keep expenditure in line with the annual budget allocation for...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: First, I apologise on behalf of the Tánaiste. She had hoped to be here today herself to take Second Stage but, fortunately for me, she had to travel to Stormont, and I got the opportunity to come in to the Seanad. This is a short social welfare Bill by normal standards but nonetheless it marks a positive shift in our economic and social recovery. This recovery can now clearly be seen....

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: How long have I got?

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank Senators for their contributions. I always find it a pleasure to come to the Seanad for the constructive debate undertaken here. I find it useful and informative. Several people, including Senator Moloney, remarked on my comment that the increase in child benefit of €5 was modest and rightly so. If there had been a decrease it would have been a massive decrease. Anyway, I...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I will get Senator Moloney more precise figures. Senator Moloney made a good point about employability services. I launched the employability service when the staff involved moved to the new offices in Galway. People should consider the difference the service has made. A number of services are run throughout the country to help people with disability to get into relevant jobs that they...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I will, indeed. The Senator's reputation precedes her. She will probably beat me to the Minister with that. I will probably be the second person to raise it with her, straight after the good Senator. I thank her very much.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Work Allowance Application Numbers (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 115 together. The Back to Work schemes, the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) assist those on certain social welfare payments who wish to become self-employed. The number of jobseekers who have received support since 2010 was 316 in 2010, 412 in 2011, 378 in 2012 and 344 in 2013. JobsPlus was introduced by the Department of Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Data (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: 3,160 people under 25 years of age commenced a JobBridge internship in 2013, out of more than 11,000 internships that commenced in that year.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The number of participants under 25 years of age who commenced a Community Employment (CE) placement in 2013 was 426. The general minimum age for entry to CE is 25 years, but certain qualifying categories can access CE from 18 years of age, i.e. persons in receipt of a disability-linked social welfare payment, Travellers, refugees, offshore islanders, ex-offenders and those referred to CE...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Supplement Payments (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The Government’s strategy to assist those in mortgage difficulty is built around the following measures, as recommended in the 2011 Interdepartmental Mortgage Arrears Working Group (Keane Group), in four main distinct areas: - Lenders providing sustainable and durable resolution options to their borrower; - A social housing response sponsored by local authorities; - Comprehensive...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: Persons who do not qualify for jobseeker's allowance by virtue of the means test are ineligible to participate on a Community Employment (CE) scheme. In general, only those in receipt of a CE-qualifying payment for the requisite period of time are eligible to participate on the CE programme. Given the scale of unemployment, the key objective of activation policy and labour market...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 176 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 71,800 rent supplement recipients for which...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Work Allowance Eligibility (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: The Back to Work schemes comprises the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) and the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA). The schemes are designed to assist jobseekers to pursue self-employment options by allowing the retention of all or part of the monetary value of the social welfare payment. The scheme provides support for a two year period with the full value of the social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Expenditure (16 Dec 2014)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 179 together. The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme provides a "safety net" within the overall social welfare system and 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...