Results 14,101-14,120 of 15,117 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I would certainly be happy to consider that. There would be logistics issues. Some schools feed hundreds of students every day with a range of meal options. It could work, from a nutritional point of view as well, in that locally supplied food is generally healthier in this context. It is something we might even ask the nutrition review to consider as well. Anything we can do to help in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I join the Deputy in wishing a happy 50th to Balbriggan meals on wheels; it is welcome to the club. I agree with the Deputy. We will certainly have a look at it. The first thing to do is review the nutritional standards. We will complete the roll-out of the school meals programme into every remaining primary school in September. That is a good time to stand back, take stock and see how...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Children in Care (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Tusla has a duty under section 45 of the Child Care Act 1991 to make a decision whether each person leaving care has a need for assistance and then to provide services in accordance with the legislation, subject to the resources. On reaching the age of 18, a young person is deemed to have left State care. Young people who have a care history with Tusla are entitled to an aftercare service...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Payments (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: It is incredibly confusing for people when means tests are assessed in different ways for different schemes and services. This is the case even within my Department. There are often valid reasons for this, however. Schemes are being developed to cater for people in different circumstances and who are experiencing different and difficult contingencies. That said, the social protection...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disabilities Assessments (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I do not have a specific timeline yet but we are working on it. There are a number of different reports on the cost of disability, which have widely varying figures. One of the first things I am trying to do is address and come up with a figure that actually reflects the reality of it. When we have a figure we can work on, we will look at a timeline. From next week, applications for...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disabilities Assessments (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I will work closely with the committee. It has always been a very collegial committee and has the interests of those with disabilities at heart. I am determined to work with the committee to come up with solutions and reforms. This applies not just to social protection but across services as well. We have a lot of work under way in this space and I hope that by the time we come to the end...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Care Services (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy. I meant to clarify in reply to Deputy O'Reilly earlier that we are conducting a review of the means test process across all schemes in the Department. Means tests are important but they are how the process is implemented. I look forward to hearing people's views on that. We will engage with the Minister for public expenditure on this issue. He is aware of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Care Services (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The commitment has to be looked at in light of the improvements that have been made in recent years, which I am determined to continue. In the context of the Deputy's final remarks, the long-term carer's contribution scheme was introduced in January 2024. Under this scheme, a person who has been a full-time carer - and yes, the Deputy is right that they are predominantly women - for an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Payments (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an cheist seo. On the wage subsidy scheme, employers face a risk when hiring any new worker, including in the context of whether the worker has the ability to do the job. Many employers perceive the risk as greater when a person under consideration has a disability, even where that person is highly qualified and able to do the job. It is important...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Payments (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I endorse the Deputy's remarks on employability and Work West. A number of groups in this space are doing very important work. We will launch the reviewed and renewed scheme next week. We will seek to work with employers' organisations and various groups throughout the country to promote the scheme and the benefits for an employer in having somebody with a disability, who will bring that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: If Deputy O'Reilly would like to drop me a line on that, I will follow up on it. I know more than most the value of school caretakers, particularly to the teachers. I congratulate Deputy O'Connor on his appointment as Chairman of the employment and enterprise committee. I look forward to working with him. In that context, we need to ensure that the social protection system can be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: We will absolutely engage across the House on proposals in this space. People are being disincentivised from moving from the welfare system into work because of anomalies that should no longer exist. With everybody's input, we can do that, hopefully by the end of this year.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I have already met with a number of groups in this space pointing out many anomalies in the system we need to address to assist lone parents. As the Deputy said, it is a very challenging role. I have engaged with the groups and unfortunately it seems there are systems that are not helping them. I am determined to address those anomalies to make sure that there is support in place for lone...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: In future, I will make sure we have the answers as Gaeilge for the Deputy. We are very aware of the key role that family carers play. The main income supports to carers provided by my Department are carer’s allowance, carer’s benefit, domiciliary care allowance and the carer’s support grant, which will account for over €1.9 billion of my Department's budget in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I assure the Deputy that we absolutely value the work of carers. That has been shown by the work done on the income disregards, which will take effect this July, in recent years and the introduction of the long-term carer's contribution scheme in January 2024. Under that scheme, a person who has been a full-time carer for an incapacitated dependent for at least 20 years, or 1,040 weeks, can...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The report on----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: On carers?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I will clarify it for the Deputy after the debate. We are looking at everything. I will not accept the contention that we do not value carers. We absolutely do value them. We have shown through a number of initiatives in recent years that we do so. There have been initiatives in successive budgets and contributions around income disregards and the carer's support payment. We have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I will come back to the Deputy on that.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (1 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Deputy raises a very important point. My Department's focus is on improving the income supports that are being made available to carers and improving the support that we as a Department can give to them. In terms of our aging population, we have to work with our colleagues in the Department of Health to ensure that we align all of our plans in this space. That is something I am more...