Results 18,421-18,440 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The ‘marriage bar’ describes a rule that existed in most of the public service and some private sector employments, where women were required to leave their employment upon marriage. This practice was abolished in 1973 when Ireland joined the EEC. As employees in the public service generally paid a reduced rate of PRSI, which provided no cover for the State pension...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The number of families in receipt of family income supplement (FIS) stands at 55,940 as of 13 May 2016. This represents an increase of almost 94% since the end of December 2011 when 28,876 customers were in receipt of FIS. The following table shows the year, number of recipients and the percentage increase on the previous year since 2011: Year Recipients - Families Percentage Increase...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Maternity Benefit is an income maintenance payment awarded to eligible women for a 26 week period while they are on Maternity Leave. As with all social insurance payments entitlement to Maternity Benefit is predicated on a minimum number of contributions being paid. In 2016 it is estimated that my Department will spend approximately €266 million on Maternity Benefit, in respect...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Maternity Benefit is a payment made for 26 weeks to employed and self-employed pregnant women who satisfy certain pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions in order to avoid the need for them to work pre and post-delivery of their baby. The original scheme was introduced in 1970 and was extended to include self-employed mothers with effect from June 1997. In 2016 it is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 202 and 212 together. The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The Government has provided €38.8 million for this scheme in 2016. End of year records show that under the 2015 BSCFA scheme, payments were made...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The cost of increasing the rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance paid to those under 26 years of age, to the maximum rate of €188 per week in 2017 is €148.4 million. This measure involves increasing the €100 rate by €88 per week and the €144 rate by €44 per week. The cost also includes proportionate increases for any qualified adults. The costing...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobs Initiative (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: A commitment was given in Pathways to Work to develop and implement a programme of evaluations to assess the impact of Pathways to Work initiatives. One of the first schemes selected for evaluation was JobBridge. The aim of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the scheme in terms of its key objective of improving employment outcomes for unemployed jobseekers. The evaluation...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Department of Social Protection administers some 70 schemes. Overpayment of social welfare benefit or assistance can be described under three broad headings related to fraud and misrepresentation by the applicant to obtain a payment; error and changes in the underlying circumstances of the recipient; or errors and failures in the processing of claims and information by staff of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My department makes a significant contribution to An Post through the current contract for cash services. In 2015 there were over 38 million social welfare transactions in An Post at a cost of €54 million to my department. These welfare payments through post offices are across all of the department’s major schemes: state pension, jobseekers, one parent family payments,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Rights (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The new partnership Government aims to create an additional 200,000 jobs by 2010, including 135,000 outside of Dublin. This will be achieved by continuing and enhancing a supportive environment for enterprise and employment. In particular, the role of entrepreneurs and the self-employed will be central to this ambition. The new programme agreed with our partners in Government contains...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Data (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Disability Allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment which is paid to persons aged 16 to 66 who are substantially restricted in undertaking suitable employment arising from a medical condition (subject to satisfying the relevant medical criteria). The estimated cost in 2017 (and a full year) of increasing the weekly personal rate of Disability Allowance by €20, from...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Support Services Funding (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The reasonable accommodation fund for the employment of people with disabilities assists employers to take appropriate measures to enable a person with a disability/impairment to have access to employment by providing a range of grants. These grants and supports include: - the workplace equipment and adaptation grant, - the personal reader grant, - the job interview interpreter grant, and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: School Meals Programme (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to schools and organisations at a total cost of €42 million in 2016. There are two schemes operated under the school meals programme. The first scheme is the school meals local projects scheme through which funding is provided directly to participating schools and local and voluntary community...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Programme for Government contains the commitment to undertake a "Review of the Farm Assist Scheme, recognising the challenges facing farmers on low incomes". I have asked my officials to review the farm assist scheme from a policy and an administrative point of view. Any changes to the scheme will have to be considered in a budgetary context. The particular information that the Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: An application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 21 December 2015. CA is a social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State, satisfies a means test and who is providing full-time care and attention to another person who has a disability such that they require that level of care. A person can be considered to be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department is in receipt of an application for disability allowance from the above named person on 16 March 2016. On completion of the necessary investigations on all aspects of the claim a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. The processing time for individual disability allowance claims may vary in accordance with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Activation Projects (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Providing Equal Employment Routes (PEER) project was one of 14 disability activation projects (DACT), in the Border, Midlands & West region, which were jointly funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department of Social Protection (DSP), from the end of 2012 to April 2015. The project was delivered by the Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Community Employment (CE) is the largest employment programme administered by my Department and is a valuable resource for both jobseekers and communities. Currently, there are almost 22,940 participants and nearly 1,400 supervisors employed on CE at a cost of approximately €376.5m in 2016. As the Deputy will be aware, CE aims to enhance the employability and mobility of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Data (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: From 1 January 2016, a new tapering credit was introduced for PRSI Class A and Class H employees earning between €352.01 and €424.00 per week. In the case of employees earning €352 or less, PRSI is still not chargeable. The maximum weekly PRSI credit of €12.00 applies at gross earning of €352.01 and reduces the PRSI charge from €14.08 to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The new partnership Government aims to create an additional 200,000 jobs by 2010, including 135,000 outside of Dublin. This will be achieved by continuing and enhancing a supportive environment for enterprise and employment. In particular, the role of entrepreneurs and the self-employed will be central to this ambition. The new programme agreed with our partners in Government contains a...