Results 19,421-19,440 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Nov 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 these households with their energy costs. The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited resources available to my Department in as targeted...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. The payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) is paid from late September to April. One of the conditions for receipt of the fuel allowance is that a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment and live alone or only with a dependent spouse, civil partner, or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: As part of Budget 2023, the Social Protection budget has been designed to assist people with cost-of-living increases through a mix of once off lump sum payments, increases to weekly payment rates and, for example, an expansion of the Fuel Allowance scheme. The measures introduced included the provision of a one-off €500 Cost-of-Living payment, which was paid in mid-November to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 462 and 463 together. Carer’s Allowance is a payment to people on low incomes who are caring full-time for a person who needs support because of age, disability or illness (including mental illness). The person being cared for must require full-time care and attention. At the end of October 2022, there were 91,892 recipients of Carer's Allowance. Of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there are currently 7,479 appeals at various stages of the appeals process. Under Article 13 of the Social Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Jobseeker’s Allowance, formerly known as Unemployment Assistance, is a means-tested income support for people who are unemployed. In the week ending 20 November, 2022, there were 114,650 Jobseeker’s Allowance recipients. Of these, 41.5 per cent (47,539) are long-term unemployed (one year or more), while 58.5 percent (67,111) are considered short-term recipients. It should be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Policies (29 Nov 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, introduced into our statistical reporting in 2022, used to refer to exceptional and urgent needs payments, and certain supplements to assist with ongoing or recurring costs that cannot be met...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. The time taken to process an appeal reflects a number of factors including that the appeals process is a quasi-judicial process with Appeals Officers being required to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Bereavement Grant, which was a once-off payment for funeral costs, was discontinued in January 2014. The number of bereavement grant claims in 2013 was 23,716 at a cost of €20.3 million. It is estimated that the cost of reintroducing the grant would be close to €30 million per annum and increasing annually. Any decision to reinstate the grant would have to be considered...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: There are a number of payments and pensions paid by my Department to people over State Pension Age. One of these is the State Pension (Contributory), qualification for which is based on a number of criteria, including that of a minimum of 520 qualifying contributions, which have been paid into the Social Insurance Fund. For those who have paid the required contributions at a reckonable rate...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: State Pension (Contributory) (SPC) is a payment which a person may qualify for at 66 years of age if they have enough Irish social insurance contributions. It is based on their social insurance (PRSI) contributions. It is not means tested, nor is it affected by other income. The number of applications registered, awarded, refused and pending each in each of the last three years is shown in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Under current eligibility conditions, applicants must have 520 full-rate paid contributions in order to qualify for standard State pension (contributory). Calculation of an applicant’s entitlement to State pension (contributory) is based on their social insurance record from their date of entry into insurable employment until pension age, currently 66 years. Pension entitlement...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 472 and 473 together. My Department understands the many pressures faced by customers and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently. Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing eligibility criteria. Schemes that require a higher level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. Among the measures introduced for CA in Budget 2023 was a €500 cost of living payment for people receiving Carer's...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. Among the measures introduced for Carers in Budget 2023 were: - €12 increase in the maximum rate of Carer’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 14 November 2022. It is a statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Department has contracts for cleaning with Grosvenor Cleaning Services and for security with Securway At Risk Security Group (SARS). The cost for these services for 2020, 2021 and 2022 (to 31 October) is set out below. Supplier 2020 2021 2022 Grosvenor Cleaning Services Ltd €3,323,461.10 €4,121,509.82 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Ministerial Staff (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: One former civilian driver remains in the employment of the Department of Social Protection on a temporary contract, coterminous with the Minister. Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) was not issued and no case has presented to the WRC to date on foot of changes.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The person referred to by the Deputy is the subject of a Deportation Order made on 1 February 2019. However, they made a request on 23 October 2020, under section 3(11) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), to have that Order revoked. This application will be considered as soon as possible. All applications are examined on a case by case basis, on the documentation supplied and as...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (29 Nov 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The application for the person referred to by the Deputy was received by the Undocumented Unit of my Department on 23 February 2022 and continues to be processed. Due to the large number of applications on hand it is not possible to provide a definitive timeframe for a decision to issue. The processing times of applications will vary depending on the complexity of the application, whether...