Results 15,261-15,280 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Flexible Work Practices (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Civil Service departments and offices have been working in line with Government Covid-19 guidance, which provides for home working to continue where possible. As an essential service, staff in my Department have continued, throughout the pandemic, to work both on site in office premises and remotely to deliver for our customers across our nationwide network of offices. The number of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Flexible Work Practices (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 451 and 453 together. Electricity costs in my Department were higher in 2020 because of the impact of Covid 19 on work practices and adherence to public health guidance. Compared with other Government Departments, the Department of Social Protection has required on site attendance of an average of 50% of staff and has provided access to all public offices,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Cybersecurity Policy (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department implements a security-by-design and defence-in-depth approach to cyber security. My Department also has 24/7 cyber defensive systems in place which react to any threat to its systems in the event of a cyber incident or security breach. All systems are monitored on a 24/7 basis. My Department also works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: There is a wide range of benefits available to people who make Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions. Entitlement to such benefits is dependent on the individual's social insurance contribution record, the class of social insurance paid as well as satisfying other qualification criteria relevant to the scheme being applied for. In general, self-employed people make PRSI...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Working Family Payment (WFP) formerly Family Income Supplement is a weekly in-work support, which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment the customer must have at least 1 qualified child who normally resides with them. WFP is payable at 60% of the difference between the set income limit for a given family size and the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Remittance of social insurance contributions by self-employed people fall into either of two broad categories. The first category are those who exercise a trade or profession and who are obliged to file annual returns of income under the Revenue self-assessment process through which any social insurance liabilities arising are collected in a single, annual sum. The second category are...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The information requested by the Deputy relates to the payment of a public sector pension to a retired nurse and, therefore, it is not a matter for which my Department has responsibility. The payment of pension related benefits to former public sector employees is a matter for the relevant line Department, in this case, the Department of Health, with matters relating to pensions policy...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Covid Illness Benefit (Enhanced Illness Benefit) is a scheme that was introduced in March 2020, to support people who are incapable of work or who are required to self-isolate, as a result of a Covid diagnosis or being a probable source of infection. To date a total of 217,313 Covid Illness Benefit related claims have been processed. The majority of the standard Illness Benefit claims are...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Data Protection (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the Data Protection Commission has, under the terms of a settlement agreed with the Department on Friday 10th December 2021, cancelled its enforcement notice. The terms of the agreement have been published in an agreed notice that is available on both the Department’s and the DPC’s website.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 460 and 461 together. On 5th November 2021, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform published a cost-benefit analysis report on the Public Service Identity (PSI) management framework as one of the Autumn Spending Review Papers. The PSI management framework consists of the SAFE registration service, the Public Services Card (PSC) and the MyGovID...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Harbours and Piers (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy is aware, Galway County Council are the responsible authority for the maintenance and development of infrastructure on the Aran islands. To that end, my Department provides financial support to the local authorities for priority projects. To address safety issues affecting the pier on Inis Oírr, the Government included development of the harbour among the capital...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: On 9 December last I announced €2.6 million in funding to deliver Town Centre First Plans in 26 towns across the country. The development of these 26 Plans will feed into the Government’s overall Town Centre First Policy, which I expect will be launched in the coming weeks. The funding will support each local authority, working with a collaborative Town Team, to develop a...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Regeneration Projects (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Town Centre First policy is a commitment under the Programme for Government, and in Our Rural Futureand Housing For All. My Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage have jointly been developing the policy which is now finalised. The policy will be launched in the coming weeks. The new Town Centre First Policy will be an important catalyst for Local...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Flexible Work Practices (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Future, Ireland’s Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and commits to establishing a comprehensive and integrated network of remote working hubs over the lifetime of the policy to 2025. A number of funding streams operated by my Department directly support this commitment. For example, the Rural...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Agriculture Schemes (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The LEADER Programme is one of the key interventions of Our Rural Future, the Government’s Policy for rural development launched earlier this year. An indicative budget of €180 million was recently announced for the LEADER programme for the period 2023-2027. When taken together with the €70 million already provided for 2021 and 2022 under the Transitional LEADER...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: From 2007 to 2020, LEADER was included in the suite of measures that constituted Ireland’s Rural Development Programme (RDP). The Rural Development Programmes agreed by each Member State with the EU Commission were designed to correspond to specified Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) programming periods. The CAP programming periods in turn correspond to the EU's budgetary cycle. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Budgets (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy is aware, the Finance Act 2004 makes provision for Departments and agencies to carry forward capital money from the current financial year into the next financial year. This recognises the difficulties inherent in the planning and profiling of capital expenditure, and that such projects may be subject to delays. Given the closure of construction sites for most of the first...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (14 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities and represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural communities. As noted in my previous reply in respect of the matter raised by the Deputy, I asked my officials to request a written report from the relevant Local Authority in respect of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: They can get back on it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Dec 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy is a great dancer.