Results 15,001-15,020 of 15,157 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The main legislative provisions determining whether a person is a qualified adult are Sections 2(2) and 3(11) of Part 1 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005, as amended, and Articles 6, 7 and 8 in Statutory Instrument (S.I.) 142 (Claims, Payment and Control Regulations) of 2007, as amended. Article 7 specifies the income limits in order to be regarded as a qualified adult for social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department provides State Pension payments through the State Pension (Contributory), which is a contributory based payment based on a person's social insurance record and the State Pension (Non-Contributory) which is means-tested social assistance payment. A State pension (contributory) recipient can claim an increase on their pension in respect of a qualified adult where the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year. To qualify for the allowance a person must meet a number of conditions, namely: The child must meet the age criteria,The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. Currently, the payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 19th birthday where they are in full-time education or have a disability. It is paid at €140 per month, with twins being paid at €210 per child and triplets being paid at €280 per child. Child...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Poverty (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: It is not proposed to establish a new departmental team to address child poverty in my Department. The One Parent and Child Income Policy Unit and the Social Inclusion Division within my Department, together with the Hot School Meals Team, work in close cooperation on policies and measures to address child poverty. In addition, the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department provides a range of employment support schemes for jobseekers aged between 18 and 66 and others in receipt of certain social welfare payments to avail of training or employment opportunities and improve their access from social welfare to sustainable employment. The Back to Education Allowance provides income support for customers in receipt of certain social welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The estimated annual cost of increasing disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind pension by €1 is €12.4m. It should be noted that these costings are subject to change in the context of emerging trends and the associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients. It should also be noted that these costings include proportionate increases for qualified adults...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The total estimated cost of increasing the Child Support Payment (formerly known as the Increase for Qualified Child or IQC) for children aged 12 years and over by €1 is €4.22 million. This increases the weekly rate from €62 to €63 per week. This costing is based on the estimated average number of recipients in 2025, and is subject to change in light of emerging...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The estimated cost of increasing the Child Support Payment (formerly the Increase for a Qualified Child) for children under 12 years by €1, from €50 to €51 per week, is €11.23m. The above costing is on a full year basis and is based on the estimated number of recipients in 2025. It should be noted that this costing is subject to change in the context of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: It is important to note that the State Pension age was never 65 years of age. The State Pension (Contributory) and State Pension (Non-Contributory) were never paid at 65 years of age. Reducing the State Pension age to 65 years would increase pension related expenditure significantly. While my Department does not have a detailed actuarial analysis of this option, a high-level estimate of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The State Pension (Contributory) (SPC) is funded from the Social Insurance Fund through the contributions paid by workers. The rate of payment reflects the number of social insurance contributions paid over a working life. Eligibility for SPC is based on a number of criteria:Being aged 66 or over.Having entered the Social Insurance system 10 years before you intend to drawdown your...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Household Benefits Package comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. The Department of Social Protection will spend approximately €308 million this year on the Household Benefits Package. The estimate provided is based on an implementation date of January 2026 with an estimated 537,000 recipients of the electricity or gas element of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2025 is €107.6 million. Providing an accurate projection of the cost of extending the Free Travel scheme to those in receipt of Domiciliary Care...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Matters relating to foster care and kinship care are the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. This Government acknowledges the important role that carers, including kinship and foster carers, play and remains fully committed to supporting them. The State Pension (Contributory) system provides a range of measures to recognise caring periods...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 207 and 208 together. Guardian’s payment (contributory) and guardian's payment (non-contributory), are respectively social insurance and social assistance (means tested) payments made to a person caring for a child who satisfies the definition of an “orphan” under social welfare legislation. A child is considered an orphan if they...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Workers Register (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The cost of employing employment services support officers to social welfare recipients is as follows: a) a job coach is at Executive Officer (EO) civil service grade. The cost of the annual rate of the entry point of the EO payscale is €37,544 and b) an employment personal advisor is at Higher Executive Officer (HEO) grade. The cost of the annual rate of the entry point of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Application Forms (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department administers more than 100 separate schemes and services, which affect the lives of almost every person in the State. We are fully committed to ensuring that members of the public are fully aware of the welfare supports and services available, and to ensuring key changes are communicated to them. Public information campaigns, publications, content on gov.ie, and our online...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Paternity Leave (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Paternity Benefit is a payment for employed and self-employed people who are on Paternity Leave from work who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions. It is currently paid for two weeks at €289 per week. Any decision to extend the period of Paternity Leave for employees is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality who has policy and legal...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Parental Leave (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: Parent's Benefit is a payment for employed and self-employed people who are on Parent's Leave from work who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions. It is currently paid for nine weeks at €289 per week. Any decision to extend the period of Parent's Leave for employees is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality who has policy and legal...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (11 Jun 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021 has not been enacted and is currently at Third Stage in Dáil Éireann. Section 23B(1) of the Bill provides for an entitlement to "leave with pay," meaning the proposed leave would be paid by the employer rather than through a social welfare benefit. The Bill does not propose the creation of a benefit to...