Results 12,221-12,240 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: An application for the Carer’s Support Grant (CSG) was received from the person concerned on 29 July 2020. A person may apply for CSG in any given year 8 weeks before the date on which the grant is payable and up to 31 December the following year. To qualify for CSG, a carer must be providing full-time care to the care recipient for a continuous period of at least six months and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: In advance of the publication of Circular 20/2019, my Department has been working over recent years on progressing the green agenda. In this regard, my Department has been complying with environmental law and has developed strategies on waste management, energy reduction and developing and delivering online schemes and services in line with its Digital Strategy. A Corporate Procurement...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department participates fully in resettlement programmes, providing income support where appropriate and access to the Public Employment Service (PES) to assist and support in finding employment. Labour market activation policies delivered by the PES are designed to assist people in finding employment For a person in receipt of a jobseeker payment, activation is delivered through an...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Fines Administration (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I have requested a report on the information requested by the Deputy from the Garda authorities, however this was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I have requested a report on the information requested by the Deputy from the Garda authorities, however this was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Correspondence (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Justice Plan 2021 commits to accelerating innovation, digitalisation and climate action across the justice sector. The Plan commits to cutting our reliance on carbon by implementing climate action policies in areas such as fleet and estate management, as well as green public procurement and energy efficiency. As the Deputy may be aware, under Circular 20/2019, Government Departments are...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: On 28 December 1972, bombs exploded in three border towns, Clones, Co. Monaghan, Belturbet, Co. Cavan and Pettigo, Co. Donegal. The perpetrators of these bombings demonstrated a callous disregard for human life with many injured and the lives of two innocent young people taken in the Belturbet bombing. The bombings were comprehensively investigated at the time by An Garda Síochána....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Reports (13 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Voted expenditure by my Department generally relates to the provision of grant funding with procurement arrangements being the responsibility of grant recipients, subject to compliance with overall procurement requirements. In terms of green procurement, the relevant contracts entered into by my Department relate to goods and services needed for our daily operational requirements for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. My Department is finalising a request for tender with the aim of establishing new local employment-type services in areas of the State where they do not currently operate. I expect this tender to issue shortly and the details of the procurement will be outlined in the published request for tender. The forthcoming procurement process will not...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I agree that fantastic work is being done by local employment service providers across the country. The local employment service in my county of Monaghan is led by Mr. Francis McCarron, who does good work helping people with career guidance, CV and interview preparation, and upskilling and training supports. This is the case in many local employment services and I assure the Deputy that I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: That report will be published in due course. Local employment services form only one part of this jigsaw. There are a number of aspects, for example, the Intreo offices, where I have increased the number of staff to help people locate jobs. Unfortunately, many people will not get their jobs back when the economy reopens fully. We want to help them find other jobs. A number of approaches...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The original purpose of the mortgage interest supplement scheme was to provide short-term support to eligible people who, due to temporary unemployment or loss of earnings, were unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house that was their sole place of residence. The 2011 interdepartmental mortgage arrears working group...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Abhaile is the national mortgage arrears resolution service. It is provided free of charge to insolvent borrowers who are at risk of losing their home due to mortgage arrears. Abhaile is focused on providing expert financial and legal advice and assistance to borrowers to identify and put in place solutions to their arrears and, wherever possible, enable them to remain in their home. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Abhaile programme has worked well. At the end of December 2019, nearly 35% of the 17,640 borrowers who engaged with Abhaile financial advice either had a solution in place or were on trial. A further 47%, or 8,317 borrowers, were still in their homes and receiving ongoing support from their Abhaile financial adviser to get a solution in place. I know the Deputy will agree with me that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The PUP is available to employees and self-employed persons who lost employment due to the Covid-19 crisis. To date, expenditure on the scheme is approximately €7.5 billion, which demonstrates the Government's absolute commitment to those affected by the crisis. As restrictions are eased further over the coming weeks and months, I expect people will be in a position to close their...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for her comments regarding the efforts of staff in social protection offices the length and breadth of the country. They have done magnificent work. We sometimes take things for granted when they run smoothly and payments are there every week, but there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes every day to make sure that happens. The PUP continues to be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Those who are on the PUP continue to be on it and, as I said, it remains open to new entrants until the end of June. Recipients know that if they are on the PUP, they will continue on that payment. The Government has not been found wanting in supporting people during this pandemic. Over €7.6 billion has been spent on the PUP to date, over 23 million individual payments have been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputy Nolan for raising this issue. JobPath provides employment assistance and advice to the long-term unemployed on behalf of my Department. The current JobPath contracts were due to expire at the end of last year. Last October, however, in addition to contract renewals to the local employment services, job clubs and EmployAbility, I announced an extension of referrals to the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: To be clear, JobPath is not a job placement service. The providers are contracted to provide employment assistance and to support jobseekers. It is important to say that a review of JobPath has been carried out and that the OECD evaluation, which is completely independent, showed that, overall, those who participate on JobPath have better employment outcomes and earnings than those who are...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (18 May 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The figures the Deputy refers to relate to services provided to more than 295,000 jobseekers. As I said, their success rate in getting and keeping jobs is better than with some of the other services. Now is not the time to cut employment support services of any kind. We face record unemployment as a result of the pandemic. There are currently 363,000 people on the PUP and another 177,000...