Results 14,681-14,700 of 15,157 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (21 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 (21 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 (21 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 (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Carer’s Support Grant (CSG) is an annual payment made to full-time carers who satisfy certain conditions. The person claiming the CSG must:Be aged 16 or over and ordinarily resident in this State.Care for the person on a full-time basis.Care for the person for a continuous period of at least six months – this period must include the first Thursday in June.Live with the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 21 January 2025. It is a necessary condition for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned reached pension age on 2 June 2023. An application for State Pension (contributory) was received on 21 October 2024. The person concerned was awarded the maximum rate of the state pension (contributory) with effect from 21 April 2024 which included the standard six months backdating from the date of receipt of the application. Following receipt of medical evidence, it...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make an Additional Needs Payment (ANP) to help meet expenses that an eligible person cannot pay from their weekly income. The ANP scheme is demand led and administered by Community Welfare Officers (CWOs) in the Community Welfare Service (CWS), taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Regeneration Projects (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) is a strategic capital investment fund that is key to the delivery of Ireland's rural development policy, Our Rural Future 2021-2025. RRDF provides funding for the development and construction of capital projects in towns, villages and rural areas across Ireland. Funding is allocated to local authorities and other State-funded bodies, who...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 194 and 195 together. My Department administers a large number of schemes and programmes that support communities, community groups and organisations around the country, however it does not provide supports to individuals or households directly. Detailed information on all schemes and programmes, including details on eligibility criteria, the values of funds...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) provides funding for the development and enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as walking trails, cycleways, blueways and mountain access routes in rural areas. Last year, funding of over €20.3 million was announced for 221 projects under measures 1, 2 and 3 of the 2023 ORIS scheme. Almost €900,000 was...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Launched in 2022, the Town Centre First (TCF) Policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. TCF supports the Our Rural Future vision for a thriving rural Ireland by setting out a framework to facilitate and resource the regeneration of Irish towns to ensure they are vibrant, viable places to live, work,...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) was introduced in 2016 and is one of a number of measures designed to rejuvenate rural towns and villages throughout Ireland. Since the launch of the scheme over €177 million has been allocated to almost 1,800 projects. Of this more than €7 million has been allocated to 72 projects in County Laois. In April 2024, funding of...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (21 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Funding was awarded in December 2021 to 26 towns to draft and complete Town Centre First (TCF) Town Plans. These towns were nominated by local authorities and Kerry County Council nominated Milltown. The agreed delivery timeframe for completion of these Town Plans was within 12 to 18 months of the announcement of the Minister. A condition attached to the €100,000 funding awarded...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (22 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht a cheist. Our Rural Future is the Government policy for sustainable rural development in Ireland, putting forward a vision for vibrant rural places that are attractive to people, particularly young people, who wish to study, live, work and raise their families in rural Ireland. More than 170 measures are outlined in the policy to support...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (22 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I agree with the Deputy in many respects that there is a rural housing challenge. However, planning permissions have been granted for almost 6,000 one-off homes on average every year since 2020. Over 90% of those are built in rural settings. Within our Department, we have put in place a large number of policies to support the communities around that. Funding of €164 million for...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (22 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: We get a sense of the national planning framework now as local authorities are being invited to submit new proposals for housing in terms of rezoning land. I would also point to the vacant property refurbishment grant, which has opened up houses. The Deputy is a rural TD as well; he can see that houses that were closed for generations have been opened up. In Waterford City and County...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (22 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: Within my Department, the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, is the primary social inclusion programme. It aims to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality in Ireland through supporting communities and individuals using community development approaches, engagement and collaboration. I thank and commend our SICAP teams all over the country for their...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (22 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: With my other hat on, we are absolutely focused on those child poverty figures. I am not happy with them. We will be bringing forward a number of initiatives in this year's budget. The Deputy touched on something we need to do a lot more work on, namely, rural poverty, in particular, and hidden poverty. The area of transport is one the Deputy has identified. Under the current CLÁR...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Poverty (22 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: As I said, it is not a specific focus, but it is very much part of SICAP's work through all its engagement with organisations. Many of the SICAP teams give specific local responses to specific situations and children or family situations in communities, depending on what they work with. They work closely with the Child and Family Agency and the area school completion units. That is one...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Sports Organisations (22 May 2025)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy. I heard the report and have seen the work done by many county boards across the country, led by the uachtarán of the GAA. I am very much aware that the GAA works in communities locally and nationally to address this challenge, through its national demographics committee and each county demographic officer. As I said, Our Rural Future contains a wide range of...