Results 19,021-19,040 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Topical Issue Debate: Poverty Data (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for submitting the subject of poverty as a Topical Issue debate. Tackling poverty continues to be a priority for the Government. It is important to point out the figures mentioned by the Deputies are from the survey on income and living conditions for 2014 and are neither new nor recent, although the report by Social Justice Ireland was published today. They relate to...

Topical Issue Debate: Poverty Data (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I will pick up on the points on rural poverty mentioned by Deputy McGrath. Rural poverty is clearly different from urban poverty, although both are equally problematic and need to be dealt with. There is a review of the farm assist programme, with a view to reversing some of the cutbacks from previous budgets. That may help farmers, particularly in the west, who are struggling to make ends...

Topical Issue Debate: Poverty Data (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There is also the whole issue of transfers. If one compares us with other European countries, some of which are more equal than us, we do pretty well on transfers. Our welfare payments are higher than they are in Northern Ireland, in Britain or in many other countries that have higher Gini scores than us. Where we are really falling down is on services - people on very low incomes having...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 26 May 2016. A person can be considered to be providing full-time care and attention where they are engaged in employment, self-employment or on training courses outside the home for a maximum of 15 hours per week, provided that they can show to the satisfaction of a deciding...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 281, 282, 285 and 313 together. The following table lists per scheme the indicative cost of a €10 increase in weekly rates of payment for those of pension age. The costs include a proportionate increase for recipients with qualified adults. Scheme Cost in 2017 €m State Pension Contributory 208.0 Widow/er's or Surviving Civil Partner's...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Support Grant (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Carer’s Support Grant is an annual payment made by my Department to full-time carers. It is paid automatically to carers who are already in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit and Domiciliary Care Allowance. Payment is made on the 1st Thursday in June. This year, some 86,000 of these carers received the Grant on 2 June. All carers who were automatically...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Data (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Child Benefit is currently paid to around 624,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure in the order of over €2 billion in 2016. Child Benefit is an important source of income for all families and in Budget 2016 the Government increased Child Benefit by €5 per month, at a cost of €72 million. Budget 2009 reduced the age for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Artists' Remuneration (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2016 Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €2.8 billion. It is accepted that periods of unemployment are a normal feature of the acting and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: One of the conditions of entitlement to Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) is that the person concerned must be available for and genuinely seeking work. Time spent in full-time education or training of a short or long-term nature therefore does not meet this condition. The person concerned has notified his local Intreo office of the start and end dates of the course so his JB payment will be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Waiting Times (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the current average processing time for carer’s allowance appeals determined following an oral hearing is 22.4 weeks and 18.2 weeks for carer’s allowance appeals determined summarily. Where claimants have been refused a payment and are appealing the decision, if their means are insufficient to meet their needs pending...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department received an application for Carer’s Allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 24 November 2015. It is a condition for receipt of a CA that the person being cared for must have a disability whose effect is that they require full-time care and attention. This is defined as requiring from another person, continual supervision and frequent assistance...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There are no payments made by the Department of Social Protection towards the cost of caring for a dog. I hope the answer assures the Deputy and that it clarifies it for him.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: According to the United Kingdom’s Department for Work and Pensions, there were 135,070 recipients of UK state pension residing in Ireland at the end of November 2015. The following table shows the number of persons resident in the United Kingdom, who are currently in receipt of Irish state pension (contributory) or Widow(er)’s and surviving civil partner’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Services Programme (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The community services programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a social inclusion nature. Many of these companies are also funded from other sources and generate revenue from the public use of their facilities and services. The contribution from the CSP is towards the wage costs of the companies and is on the basis that...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 23 March 2016. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new applications.Additional resources have been provided to the CA section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications and they are working hard to make this happen. Frequently, delays...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Details of the Redundancy Payments Scheme for the period 2011 – 2015 were provided to the Deputy in reply to Question No. 293, Ref No: 18418/16 on 28 June, 2016. The following is a table with details of claims processed and expenditure for 2016 to date included (January to May). Redundancy Payments Scheme Claims and Expenditure 2011 – 2015 Year Claims processed Expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 4 May 2016. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new applications.Additional resources have been provided to the CA section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications and they are working hard to make this happen. Frequently, delays...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Investigations (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned requested an investigation into her PRSI record in a letter dated 24 July 2014. The matter was referred to a Social Welfare Inspector for investigation on 1 August 2014. The Inspector submitted his report on 11 September 2014 and, as outlined in the answer to PQ 17904-16, he found no discrepancies. He also confirmed that, as the person concerned was on Illness Benefit...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Long-Term Illness Scheme Eligibility (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability (see below). Entitlement to these supports is not contingent on the nature of the illness but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work. In all cases a deciding officer of my Department makes a decision...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Training Support Grant (5 Jul 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Training Support Grant Scheme (TSG) is designed to fund quick access to short term training or related interventions for individual jobseekers who have identified work opportunities. In addition Case Officers who have identified an immediate skills gap that represents an obstacle to taking up a job offer, or accessing other activation interventions may also engage the use of this scheme...