Results 10,361-10,380 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The fuel allowance is a payment of €24.50 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €686 each year) from October to April, to an average of 352,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €261.35 million in 2020. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. The statistics required by the Deputy in relation to carer's allowance appeals are set out in the table below. Appeals which had a favourable outcome for the person...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 155 and 159 together. Neither my Department nor any bodies under the aegis of my Department rent office space from the company referred to by the Deputies, nor any Irish subsidiary of that company.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: A claim for maternity benefit from was received form the person concerned outside of the prescribed time limits and as a result it was not awarded. Further information was requested in relation to the claim and the reason for the late submission to the department. Following a review she was again notified that her claim was refused. The Department is currently undertaking a further...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: An application for Domiciliary Care Allowance was received from the person concerned on the 8th May 2020. The application was not allowed as the child was not considered to satisfy the qualifying conditions for the allowance. A letter issued on the 1st July 2020 setting out the decision of the deciding officer to refuse the allowance. An appeal was registered by the Social Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. The statistics required by the Deputy in relation to the percentage of appeals which had a favourable outcome for the appellant and the average processing times for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Partial Capacity Benefit Scheme (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB) allows a person who has been in receipt of Illness Benefit for six months and who may not have full capacity for work, to return to employment and continue to receive a partial or full payment from the Department. The personal rate of payment is based on the assessment of the persons restriction on capacity for work i.e. Moderate, Severe or Profound, where they...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Town and Village Renewal Scheme (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Programme for Government includes a commitment for an expanded Town and Village Renewal Scheme to bring vacant and derelict buildings back into use and promote residential occupancy. The focus of the initiative is on renovating or repurposing properties for residential use rather than commercial use. In October 2018, my Department launched a Town Centre Living Initiative to explore...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Expenditure (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: My Department currently occupies office space at two locations - Trinity Point, Dublin 2, and Government Buildings, Ballina, Co. Mayo. The offices occupied in Ballina are in the ownership of the Office of Public Works (OPW), while the lease arrangements in relation to Trinity Point are managed on our behalf by the OPW. Neither my Department, nor any of the agencies under its aegis,...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Farmers Markets (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Funding may be available through the LEADER Programme for the type of project referred to by the Deputy. LEADER is a multi-annual programme covering the period 2014-2020 which is delivered through Local Action Groups (LAGs) in 28 LEADER sub-regional areas around the country. To date, over 3,500 projects have been approved under the current programme, for funding of almost €141...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Properties (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: My Department currently occupies office space at two locations - Trinity Point, Dublin 2, and Government Buildings, Ballina, Co. Mayo. The offices occupied in Ballina are in the ownership of the Office of Public Works (OPW), while the lease arrangements in relation to Trinity Point are managed on our behalf by the OPW. Neither my Department, nor any of the agencies under its aegis,...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Go raibh maith agat, Chairman, and thank you and the members for the invitation to be with you today. The Revised Estimates for Public Services 2020 were published in December last year. The projected expenditure for the Department in the original estimate was €21.2 billion. Just over €11 billion of this was voted expenditure, paid through the Exchequer, to provide in the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Yes.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Normally, an applicant has to have been on these payments long term. He or she would normally have to have been on jobseeker's allowance before qualifying for the Christmas bonus. Because of the situation we find ourselves in this year with Covid-19, we have decided that we will pay the Christmas bonus for anybody who has been on the PUP or whatever payment for four months. It is not just...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Chairman. There were a good few questions. I will try to go through them. I will start with the Chairman's. I agree that it is better that employers take up what was the temporary wage subsidy scheme, now the employment wage subsidy scheme. The purpose of these schemes is to maintain the link between employers and their employees. Nobody thought we would be under...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: We will look at it again in January to see what the situation is like. That was the plan when we changed it last August but, as we know, times change. I take the Deputy's point and we will certainly look at that. If we were going to-----

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Yes, it would be just a one-year course and we would see how it goes. We were worried that the PUP would stop and they would then have no payment and still be in their college without any income. Deputy Kerrane mentioned the way the PUP was paid. The question of tax is a matter for Revenue. If somebody earns over a certain amount regardless of its source, it is taxable. It is an issue...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I am not trying to avoid the Deputy's question but as I understand it, the Department of Finance will have it in the finance Bill and a decision will be made there because it is the Department of Finance that makes the final decision. I was asked what would happen if a person's PUP was based on January or February income and then changed from March to September. The answer is that the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I take the Deputy's point. In terms of the basis on which people were able to get the moratorium on their loan repayments with the banks, the banks announced that they could have a moratorium of six months. For those who wanted to engage directly with the banks, the blanket moratorium stopped and therefore it was up to people who could not pay their mortgages to engage directly with the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Further Revised) (11 Nov 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank everyone for the questions, and I will do my best to answer them. On the enterprise support grant and people over the age of 66, the pandemic unemployment payment is payable to people between the ages of 18 and 66. This is consistent with other social protection schemes payable to people of working age who have lost their employment. People aged 66 years and over are provided for...