Results 14,541-14,560 of 15,157 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (14 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Storm Éowyn was an unprecedented event which brought many challenges to communities. The importance of good community facilities and infrastructure was very clear in the aftermath of the storm, and the value of the investments made in recent years was fully evident. My Department has a comprehensive range of capital investment schemes in place which local authorities and communities...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Bodies (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The State bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal. All of these bodies are legal entities established by statute and enacted prior to 2015. Therefore, no establishment costs to the State have occurred in the past ten years regarding these bodies.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly in-work support which provides an income support for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment, the customer must be working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight in ongoing insurable employment and have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them. The information requested regarding Working Family...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Marriage Act 2015 provides for marriage of same-sex couples to be registered in Ireland as marriages. The table below gives a breakdown of same-sex marriages which were registered in each of the years 2015 to 2024. Year of registration Total 2015 91 2016 1055 2017 767 2018 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The table below shows the number of marriages in Ireland which have been registered in the years 2015 to 2024. Year of registration Total 2015 22,113 2016 22,621 2017 22,018 2018 21,052 2019 20,335 2020 9,536 2021...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: My predecessor, in response to an amendment tabled at Committee Stage of the Social Welfare Bill, had asked the Department officials to review and research the potential extension of eligibility for the Fuel Allowance to those in receipt of the Working Family Payment, including an analysis of the impact of such a measure particularly on lone parent households. Following the publishing of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department has over 90 schemes and a significant number are means-tested schemes, each with their own means test. The means test plays a critical role in determining whether an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency – such as disability, unemployment or caring. The means assessment includes income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The estimated single full-year annual cost of indexing the child support payment to 45% of the qualified adult payment for children under 12 years and to 55% for children aged 12 years and over is €371.5 million. This would represent an increase from the current rates to a new weekly rate of €72.90 for children under 12, and a new weekly rate of €89.10 for children aged...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I am delighted that as part of Budget 2025 a new baby grant of €280 was introduced. This new payment will assist parents and adoptive parents with the costs associated with new babies and newly adopted children. It will provide additional financial support to a family to ensure adequate resources and that the material needs of a child are met. The New Baby Grant is a once-off...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: My department administers over 140 schemes and services, supporting families and individuals across a broad range of services. These services include income supports, employment services, pensions, illness and disability payments, as well as supports for carers, families and jobseekers. Deciding Officers and Designated Persons are required to apply the law on a case-by-case basis when...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Bodies (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: On establishment in 2017 my Department assumed responsibility for four agencies, the Charities Regulatory Authority, Pobal, Irish Water Safety and the Western Development Commission. I would note that SI No. 56/2019 – Water Safety Ireland (Establishment) Order 2019 came into effect from 18 February 2019. This established Water Safety Ireland, with the new body assuming the functions of...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The current LEADER Programme runs to 2027 and is now up and running across the country. It supports a broad range of enterprises and community groups to develop projects which improve the quality of life and economic activity in rural areas. It is delivered through Local Action Groups (LAGs) across rural Ireland, facilitating a community-led, bottom-up approach to rural development. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (15 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: While the provision of education facilities does not come under my remit, my Department does provide funding for community facilities that are used by the wider public. The Community Centre Investment Fund (CCIF) supports the refurbishment of buildings for community use in both urban and rural settings, and applies in city locations such as the one referenced by the Deputy. This would be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (13 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Birth Certificates (13 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Civil Registration Act 2004 sets out the legislation around the registration of births in the State. The information required for the registration of a birth includes the forename or forenames of the child as provided either online or to a local registrar by a parent or another qualified informant. Section 25 of the Act legislates for any subsequent changes or amendments to a forename...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit is a new social insurance income support which has replaced the Jobseeker's Benefit scheme for people who become fully unemployed and whose first day of unemployment is on or after 31 March 2025. Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit means that the income support is directly linked to a person's previous earnings rather than family composition. Prior to the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (13 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (13 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The criteria for Fuel Allowance are in place to direct the limited resources available to my department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment aged over 66 a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including satisfy a means test and the household composition criteria. This ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment goes to those who are more...