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Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Carer's Support Grant (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: It is important to say that if those people who are caring and working lost their job due to the pandemic, they are entitled to get other payments such as the pandemic unemployment payment or the enhanced illness benefit if they are off sick. I know that many carers have sought the abolition of the means test. Removing the means test for carer's allowance would in effect create a new...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Allowance (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: In budget 2019, it was announced that research would be commissioned into the cost of disability as a first step in reaching an in-depth understanding of this complex issue. While the issue has been considered before by Departments, and research has been undertaken in the past on the cost of disability in Ireland, many of the conceptual issues remain unresolved and the empirical analysis is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Allowance (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Indecon report will look at all the issues that have been raised and I hope and expect that it will address them. My Department is doing much to help people with disabilities. This year alone, we spent more than €4.7 billion across various payments, such as disability allowance, invalidity pension, carer's allowance, partial capacity benefit and blind pension, and that is to name...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Allowance (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: As I said, Indecon is working on the report at the minute and I expect it to come to me shortly. We will have to look at the report and we will act on the recommendations in it. The priority and the focus of the Department of Social Protection is to ensure that there is an income safety net for people so that they do not fall below the income safety net. As I said to Deputy Lowry on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Acting Chairman and the Deputy. Internationally and in Ireland, research consistently indicates that the provision of a personal advisory case management service to unemployed jobseekers is an effective method of supporting jobseekers to secure and sustain employment. JobPath is simply a mechanism through which this support is provided. It provides long term unemployed...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I understand the average is €838 per person who sustains a job through JobPath. The Deputy asked whether a payment is received if a person is referred for a second or third time. I believe it is the case but I do not want to give the Deputy an incorrect answer. I will clarify the matter for her. JobPath is just one part of the jigsaw. We are also expanding the capacity of other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The total number of people engaged in JobPath is more than 280,000, giving a total cost per client of €873, delivering 12 months of employment service since engagement. This cost compares favourably with the cost of the Intreo and local employment services and provides value for money for taxpayers. I want to be clear on that. The maximum number of times a person can be referred...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: We are obviously engaging with people. People referred to the employment services are the long-term unemployed who have difficulty in getting work. They are referred to the services so they can get the help they need to identify suitable jobs. We do not actually provide them with jobs but we provide them with the assistance they need. We continue to engage with them regularly to try to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Personal Public Service Numbers (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 11 together. The SAFE registration process, which involves the authentication of a person's identity in a face-to-face interview, is the normal method of processing an application for a personal public service number, PPSN. At the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, my Department temporarily suspended the SAFE registration process....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Personal Public Service Numbers (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank all the Deputies for raising this issue. It is something I am very aware of from my own constituency office. This week, 200 additional people have been moved into the section that works on PPS numbers. Deputies can understand that getting money in people's pockets in terms of the PUP was an absolute priority. Then people were depending on arrears to come. Some people were owed...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Personal Public Service Numbers (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: That was a bugbear of mine. My number was changed to the same as my husband's with a "w" on the end of it. That is quite some time ago. I got another PPS number a good number of years ago. I do not know if there are many cases where people have not got the new PPS number. I imagine they are few and far between but I will check it out to make sure people are aware they got one in their...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Carer's Benefit (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. Carer's benefit is a payment of up to two years' duration made to people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person in need of full-time care. Under the provisions of the legislation, to be eligible to claim carer's benefit, a claimant must have paid PRSI contributions in classes A, B, C, D, E or H. Self-employed...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Carer's Benefit (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: We cannot change the principle that benefits are paid to the contributor. As the Deputy mentioned, the means-tested carer's allowance is available. The means test has a generous disregard of €665 for a couple. I understand that there are difficult situations, but we have extended supports for the self-employed. For example, they can now get jobseeker's benefit. This is why many...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Carer's Benefit (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Yes. That would entail expanding further the benefits relating to a class S stamp. I always want to consider how to review and improve, but this could result in the contribution increasing, given that the benefit is commensurate with the stamp paid. I will consider the proposal and I would be happy to engage with the Deputy.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Unemployment (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 34 and 53 together. We know from past recessions that young people tend to be disproportionately impacted by any labour market shock. This is because many employers operate a last in, first out protocol when reducing their labour forces and young people tend to work in occupations and sectors that are most immediately affected by economic downturns,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Unemployment (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: We are absolutely committed to working closely with young people to get them back to work and help them do that. We will, therefore, have the Pathways to Work strategy and I will be launching that early next year. We will significantly ramp up the number of places available on training and employment support schemes. There will be 35,000 extra training places and 10,000 new...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Unemployment (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I am sorry, engagement with whom?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Unemployment (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: We have the employability service to work with young people and others with disabilities to get them back to work. I am happy to engage with the Open Door Initiative as well. We want to increase the number of people being referred to the local employment services by approximately 50% next year. We will also be tendering to extend the service into several geographical areas which do not...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment, or PUP as it is known, is payable at four different rates depending on an individual's prior earnings. It is payable at €203 per week which is the same rate as the maximum personal rate of jobseekers, at €250, €300 and €350. The maximum €350 rate is aligned with the two adult household rate payable on jobseekers schemes....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (3 Dec 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy will be aware of how critically important it is to ensure that the State Pension system provides adequate support to pensioners and that it continues to do that over the long term. The Pensions Commission was established to examine sustainability and eligibility issues with the State Pension and the Social Insurance Fund, in fulfillment of our Programme for Government commitment....

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