Results 17,941-17,960 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Measures (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In March I announced that Government approval had been given to the final design principles for the auto-enrolment (AE) retirement savings system.  A detailed explanatory paper on the new system has been published on www.gov.ie. The system is expected to become operational in early 2024, and will automatically enrol approximately 750,000 employees at the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department can make additional needs payments to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income.  This is an overarching term used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met from the client’s own...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm to the Deputy that the preferred bidders for the new Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Services and the Intreo Partner National Employment Services have today been notified. The Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Service is already operational, under phase one in four lots covering seven counties; Donegal, Sligo & Leitrim, Laois and Offaly an Longford &...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022.  The purpose of this payment is to assist qualifying households with their energy costs. Qualifying payments for Fuel Allowance are those payments that are considered long term payments and an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rights of People with Disabilities (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In addition to providing income supports, my Department also provides a wide range of employment-related supports for both Jobseekers with disabilities and persons with disabilities in employment.  Advice on the full range of supports and services available can be obtained through the department's nationwide network of Intreo centres and on Gov.ie.    The Reasonable...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million.  The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs.  The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Cost of Living Issues (14 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.    The allowance is payable for eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Social welfare legislation provides that means tests take account of the income and assets of the person (and their spouse or partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme.  The means assessment includes income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions and maintenance payments.  It also includes property owned other than the family home and capital such as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 519 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 to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs.  The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full.  The payment is made over the winter season at the weekly rate of €33.00...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm to the Deputy that the preferred bidders for the new Intreo Partners Local Area Employment Services have today been notified, bringing closer the date of a roll-out of phase 2 employment services.  In particular, specialised employment services for those farthest from the labour market - previously available in just twelve counties - will soon be available State-wide for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has, since 2019, been developing a new model of externally provided public employment services.  This is a legal requirement to ensure such services are procured through a competitive open procurement process. Since the beginning of this process in 2019, my Department has engaged extensively with existing providers and representative bodies, including the Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The preferred bidders for the Intreo Partner Local Area Employment Service were notified today; the procurement process reaches final completion when the contracts have been awarded. The funding being provided in each lot depends in large part on the fees tendered by the preferred bidders. These will be incorporated into the contracts now being drafted by my officials and, on an individual...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks - a total of €924 each year - from late September to April, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. As part of the overall welfare budget package of €600m in increases...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a range of income supports for full-time carers including Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2022 is estimated to exceed €1.5 billion. Carer’s Allowance is the primary income support through which the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Ukraine War (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In accordance with the Temporary Protection Directive implemented in March, people fleeing the war in Ukraine have been granted the status to avail of the supports and services, including income supports and employment services, provided by my Department. This means that they can work in Ireland and access social services and the full range of social welfare supports. A reception...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department engaged with the Institute of Employment Studies and Social Finance in 2019 to research and develop best practice models for new employment services. These bodies have established track-records of helping governments develop fit-for-purpose employment services. My Department engaged with these consultants, ensuring their proposals were appropriately configured for the Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Social welfare legislation provides that means tests take account of the income and assets of the person (and their spouse or partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme. The means assessment includes income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions and maintenance payments. It also includes property owned other than the family home and capital such as savings,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My department understands the many pressures faced by claimants and always seeks to ensure that claims are handled quickly and efficiently. I am pleased to report that claim processing is up to date, with processing targets met, or exceeded, on average for all the main scheme areas, including Carer’s Allowance (CA). The target processing time for Carer's Allowance is to process 75%...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022. It is a targeted payment to people dependent on specified long-term social welfare payments. The purpose of this payment is to assist those households most in need with their energy costs. The Government is acutely aware of recent price increases and their impact on...