Results 16,481-16,500 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (31 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In line with a commitment in Our Rural Future I am pleased to confirm that funding of €50,000 has been allocated to the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) to support a “Pubs as Community Hubs” initiative. "Pubs as Community Hubs" will explore how the rural pub can be utilised as a space for community activities and services, which may not be currently available...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Gender Equality (31 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 has introduced the legislative basis for gender pay gap reporting. Organisations with over 250 employees will be required to report on their gender pay gap in 2022. The regulations under the Act will be published in the coming weeks along with guidance for employers. I am committed to supporting progress on gender equality in my Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Transport Policy (31 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has two office locations, one in Dublin and one in Mayo. Employees are encouraged to cycle to work where possible. To facilitate this, there are bike racks in each office, as well as showers available for staff who choose an active commute to work. My Department also promotes the tax incentivised Cycle to Work scheme, which aims to encourage staff to cycle to and from work, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Good morning. I thank the Chairman and the committee for the invitation to be here today. I feel very strongly about the need to support people with disabilities in their lives and their work. During my time as Minister, I have sought to make sure that the interests of people with disabilities and carers remain a focus of my Department’s priorities. During the pandemic, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Senator covered a number of issues relating to the costs of disability. The Indecon report on that subject shows there are other factors too that we need to consider in the context of how we support people with disabilities. It is not just the social welfare payment that we need to count; there are other issues and there are other areas where supports are available. Some areas where we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The invalidity pension is paid to people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or disability. It is based on the claimant's social insurance contributions and medical conditions and is not means tested. Increases are payable for qualified adults and children. People in receipt of the invalidity pension are transferred to the contributory State pension when they reach the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: When carer’s allowance is being assessed and the application comes in, the figures I have indicate that it takes an average of five weeks. Those figures have come down considerably over the past number of years. In 2021, applications were turned around on an average of five weeks. I will go through the figures later on the appeals but the fact is that many of the applications fail...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for her comments but I do not agree with most of them. She has selectively picked out everything she could and tried to point out that it is wrong. I am very proud of what I have done in this Department since I came here just one and a half years ago. In our first budget for 2021, I increased the carer's support grand to the highest level ever of €1,850. That was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department commissioned the Indecon cost of disability report, which is being looked at by a committee chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. There are other areas that we must consider when it comes to the cost of disability, including housing, transport and health. The committee in question is also considering these matters. Significant work is taking place and I will work...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I think there is confusion over the figures. Some 28,150 decisions were made. As I said, 13,000 of those were granted. Some 2,700 appeals were allowed by the appeals office, that is, 10% of the overall number of decisions were agreed in the appeals office. Some people do not meet the medical conditions of the scheme set out in the Act. We in the Department must have checks on any scheme...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Department provides carer's allowance, which is a basic income. We do not pay people for the job they do because we could not do that. The purpose of this social protection payment is to give people a basic income for the work they do while they are off other work. There is carer's benefit and carer's allowance. Deputy Murnane O'Connor went into a number of issues, including free...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. I am absolutely committed to helping people with a disability to get back into work. An employer employing a person with a disability for 39 hours per week will receive a payment from the State of €12,776 per annum. This is a significant incentive for employers to offer employment opportunities to people with disabilities. It had been my intention to do a jobs...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I can only speak about my Department. Part 5 of Disability Act 2005 provides for a statutory report on the employment of people with disabilities in the public sector. As part of this report, we conduct an annual disability census survey of our employees and 3,156 employees responded anonymously to the 2021 survey. Of those who responded, 440 disclosed disabilities. This constitutes 6.5%...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The provision of assistance hours is dealt with by the Department of Health. It is examining the issue. My Department is ensuring that we give opportunities, but I cannot specify how many people get personal assistance hours in my Department. To be honest, I am not sure. I do not know because I do not have those figures. It is important that we provide assistance, however. We will do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Deputy Hourigan has posed a question I cannot answer. I do not think it is a part of my Department, but I will check and respond directly to the Deputy later.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: It is under the remit of the Citizens Information Board, CIB, and that is a part of my Department. We also have the National Advocacy Service, NAS, to advocate for people with disabilities and that also comes under the CIB. I know that because I met representatives of the organisation only recently. Its role is to advocate and it does much good work in that space, under the auspices of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: When people arrive here, my Department is ensuring that we have a one-stop shop in Dublin Airport, as well as other facilities in Limerick, Cork and Dublin and Rosslare. We work closely with the Department of Justice on this issue. It provides refugees with temporary visas, and then we immediately give them personal public service numbers. Once they have those, refugees get supplementary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Senator. The focus of my Department has to be, and has always been, to provide an income support - a basic income - to help people when they need it. That is the number one focus of this Department. It is not a service support. Services come from other Departments. I know the point that the Senator is making, but a change to individualisation would be a fundamental change to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Senator. First, I do not know whether she was here for all of my contribution, but I have said a number of times this morning that we need to empower people. The Department wants to give people who have disabilities the opportunity to participate fully in society but also to empower them. The most important way by which anybody is empowered is to have the opportunity to go to...