Results 14,221-14,240 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I will supply the figures in respect of people who have gone into different sectors. Those figures provide us with important information to allow us to plan and help people to go into sectors where there are vacancies. It is also important that we work with the sectors and that each sector is investing in making itself an attractive place in which to work. That comes into the equation, and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy's colleague, Deputy Kerrane, raised the issue of local employment services earlier, and I responded to her. I will come back to that. Time spent on PUP will count towards eligibility for various employment supports, which is very important. Activation measures include training, work placement programmes and employment schemes. The time spent on the PUP by recipients allows...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising this issue. In August 2020, I agreed a protocol with Tusla on a pilot basis to make rent supplement more easily accessible to victims of domestic violence. This seeks to ensure that victims of domestic violence are not prevented from leaving their home because of financial or accommodation difficulties. The arrangements in the protocol are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Many of the matters raised by the Deputy fall within the remit of the Department of Justice. The Department is leading the development across Government of the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. That strategy will place a priority on the prevention and reduction of such violence and will include a national preventative strategy. The new strategy is being...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic Violence (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Department of Justice is working on the issue in conjunction with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth funds Tusla. A number of recommendations in the O'Malley report have also been introduced as part of the Department of Justice strategy entitled...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The fuel allowance is a payment of €28 per week for 28 weeks, a total of €784 each year, from October to April, to 370,000 low-income households at an estimated cost of €300 million in 2021. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy knows, my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communication, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has the role of reducing energy poverty by implementing measures to improve the energy efficiency of Irish homes. In 2016, the Government launched a comprehensive strategy to combat energy poverty following extensive publication. Deputy Naughten is very familiar with this as a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. He has raised a number of points that stretch over a number of Departments. He will appreciate I cannot announce the social protection budget here today. I can assure the Deputy that the Government is acutely aware of the recent energy price increases and their impact on households. It is also important to state we are doing a lot already to help people with their fuel...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. Recipients of the contributory State pension can claim an increase in their pension in respect of a qualified adult, subject to a means assessment. A qualified adult is the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the pensioner who has been wholly or mainly maintained by that pensioner. The means assessment reflects the fact that there is an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm to the Deputy that in-person appointments are available at all Intreo centres and that all of these center's are open 5 days per week, as are our branch offices. Offices are open for walk-in service each morning and appointment all day to 5pm. If a person wishes to make an in-person appointment for any of the Department's services, they can contact their local Intreo Centre...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: In August 2021, the rate of unemployment for young people under 25 was just under 26% when using the Central Statistic's Office Covid-19 adjusted measure. Although this rate is high, it includes all those young people on PUP which, in August, included students - many of whom would not be considered unemployed as that term is commonly understood. Even allowing for their inclusion, the Covid...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy will be aware that I will be considering a range of options for Budget 2022 over the coming week, taking account of available resources. The Central Statistics Office, in its most recent statistical release on prices, shows that the average level of prices over the 12 months to August 2021, as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, was broadly the same as for the 12...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department published a request for tenders on the 26 May last to introduce the new Regional Employment Services model into seven counties where a Local Employment Service does not exist. We are now at an advanced stage in its first phase of a two-phase procurement of new employment services. This procurement process follows extensive consultations by my Department with the existing...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Government has committed to the continued support of working parents to achieve a better work-life balance. Parent’s Leave and Benefit falls into this category and encourages the sharing of parental responsibilities equally between couples. Parent’s benefit is paid at a weekly flat rate of €245 for five weeks to employed and self-employed people who avail of parents...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Farm Assist Scheme is an important income support for farmers on low incomes, enabling them to continue to farm while also receiving a State income support. This is important not just for the farmers concerned but for the rural communities in which they live and work. Under the scheme farmers can receive the equivalent of a jobseeker payment and also have access to secondary benefits...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Low income farmers are not locked out of State pension schemes. As with all other persons, farmers can avail of the State Pension (Contributory) scheme if they have sufficient PRSI contributions. People on low incomes, including farmers, may alternatively qualify for the State Pension (Non-Contributory) (SPNC), which is a means-tested pension, financed by the Exchequer, and paid at up to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I am very aware of the pressures, financial and otherwise, that having a child in hospital can place on parents. As the two main hospitals that treat children are based in the Dublin area, this often involves parents having to travel distances and to stay close to the hospital concerned. My Department provides supports that can be accessed where a need arises as a result of a child being...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy will be aware that I will be considering a range of options for Budget 2022 over the coming days, taking account of available resources. My Department provides a range of income supports to carers through the Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit, Carer's Support Grant and Domiciliary Care Allowance schemes. In total, it is estimated that my Department will spend almost €1.5...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department funds work undertaken by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice to develop and calculate the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL). My officials work closely with the MESL team and I find this work very useful in informing policy. The outputs from this research complement data produced from other analyses such as the Survey on Income and Living Conditions produced...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Prices (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24, 83, 89 and 93 together. The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €28.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €784 each year) from October to April, to over 370,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €300 million in 2021. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a...