Results 17,801-17,820 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: 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. The allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: 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. This year, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment has been increased by €100 for the 2022 scheme year,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table, and outlines the average weeks to award for each of the named schemes, as of the end of May 2022. Table 1: Average weeks to award Scheme Average weeks to award Illness Benefit 1 Jobseeker's Benefit 1 Invalidity Pension 7 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Working Family Payment, previously Family Income Supplement, is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees, on low earnings, with children. It is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependents and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. Eligibility for the payment is not linked to receipt of a social welfare payment but...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Cost of Living Issues (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 629 and 630 together. The Government is acutely aware of recent price increases and their impact on low income households and those who are dependent on social welfare. For this reason, this Government did not await a further budget cycle to address these challenges but acted early. Overall, the tax and spending measures we have introduced to ease the burden...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned made an application for Illness Benefit in respect of an absence that commenced on 17th January 2022. The initial medical certificate submitted by her GP to support her claim certified her as being unfit to attend work until 17th July 2022. Two further certificates, covering the periods to 7th and 10th February 2022, were subsequently submitted, however, neither of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Claims for Illness Benefit must be accompanied by a Certificate of Incapacity for Work from the claimant's GP. This specifies the nature of the illness and the duration of the incapacity for work. In respect of Enhanced Illness Benefit (EIB), given the high rate of Covid 19 infections in the community and the strain on the health service, my Department on a temporary basis during this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department does not hold the information requested by the Deputy. The fuel allowance payment is typically added to the usual weekly social welfare payment as an additional payment component. This means that the fuel allowance is different to other social welfare payments in that it is operated across a variety of the Department’s payment systems, rather than one centralised...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 635 to 639, inclusive, together. In 2022 my Department contracted with 22 Local Employment Services and 27 Job Clubs for the provision of employment services, originally up to 30 June and then further extended until 31 August 2022. My Department has engaged extensively with existing providers of services in regard to the restructuring of services....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's benefit (CARB) is a PRSI based payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has such a disability that they require that level of care. An application for CARB was received from the person concerned on 30 June 2022. The application is currently being processed and once completed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: 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. The allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The purpose of the Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) is to assist people with essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The ENP is demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme considering the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 644 to 648, inclusive, together. The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,800 schools and organisations benefitting 290,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good quality food, to take full advantage of the education provided...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: A basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) is a weekly allowance paid to people who do not have enough income to meet their needs and those of their families. Amongst other reasons a person may qualify for a basic SWA if they have no other income and are awaiting the outcome of an application for a payment from my Department that has not yet been finalised. According to the records of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm that my department received an application for disability allowance (DA) from the person concerned on 23 May 2022. On 16 June 2022 the person concerned was requested to supply supporting documentation required by the deciding officer in order to make a decision on their eligibility. The person concerned has been awarded disability allowance with effect from 25 May 2022. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Policies (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: 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. This year, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment has been increased by €100 for the 2022 scheme year,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The estimated cost of increasing core social protection payments by €1, disaggregated by payment type for the period 27 September to 31 December 2022 and from 1 January 2023 to December 2023 are shown in the table below: Payment Full year 14 weeks (27/09/22 - 31/12/22) Social Insurance Schemes €m €m...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) is an assessment, developed by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, of the minimum income needed to live and partake in the social and economic norms of everyday life for various household types. My Department has partly funded the excellent, detailed work of the Vincentian Partnership for a number of years, and I find it extremely...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The estimated costs of increasing the Qualified Child Increase payment rate by €1 per week for the period 27 September to 31 December 2022 and, as clarified with the Deputy, from 1 January to 31 December 2023 are shown in the table below: Full year 14 weeks (27/09/22 - 31/12/22) €m €m Cost for...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Programmes (12 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1144 and 1145 together. The CLÁR Programme provides funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation over a defined period. A review of CLÁR areas nationally was undertaken in 2021 using the 2016 Census of Population data....