Results 19,581-19,600 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Diet Supplement Scheme (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Diet supplement, administered under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, is payable to qualifying persons, in receipt of the supplement prior to February 2014, who have been prescribed a special diet as a result of a specified medical condition. Following the outcome of a review of the costs of healthy eating and specialised diets by the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Naturalisation Applications (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Naturalisation of individuals is a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality. I have been advised by that Department that it has no record of an application from the individual concerned for either a stamp 4 or for citizenship.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Payments (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is a condition for receipt of Carer's Benefit (CARB) 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 throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continuous supervision in order to avoid danger to him or...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Legal Services (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The role of Scope section in the Department of Social Protection is to make statutory decisions on insurability of employment under the Social Welfare Act. Employers, employees and the self-employed may apply to Scope for an investigation of an employment status and a determination of the correct class of PRSI. Scope decisions are based on all available evidence, including a report from a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned is currently repaying €17.51 per week by way of a deduction from his State pension contributory payment in relation to an overpayment, the outstanding balance of which is €2,072.17. The overpayment was accrued as he failed to disclose that he was in receipt of a State pension contributory of €115.20 per week when he applied for a basic supplementary...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 448, 451, 458 and 459 together. The estimated cost of increasing the duration of fuel allowance by one week per annum is estimated at €8.8 million in a full year. The estimated cost of a €30 increase in the rate of Child Benefit, in respect of children aged 12 and over, is €135 million in a full year. A €10 increase in the weekly...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 5 August 2016. The application is currently being examined and once completed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Family Income Supplement (FIS) is an in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. FIS is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependants. There are over 55,000 families with almost 123,000 children in receipt of FIS. The estimated spend on FIS this year is approximately €410 million. FIS is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Child Benefit is currently paid to around 619,000 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: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 453 and 454 together. The cost of increasing the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) in order that it continues to be paid when the youngest child reaches 18 years of age is not currently available. Customers transitioning from (OFP) move to a multitude of social welfare schemes and so this costing would require a complex exercise across a wide range of datasets...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Social welfare legislation provides for a disregard of maintenance payments in relation to housing costs actually incurred (up to a maximum of €95.23 per week) across a range of means-tested social assistance schemes (such as jobseeker's allowance, one-parent family payment, disability allowance and the state pension non-contributory), with half the balance of the maintenance being...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Social welfare legislation provides that Family Income Supplement (FIS) payments are not assessable when means testing assets and income for weekly social assistance schemes such as jobseeker’s allowance, disability allowance, one-parent family payment, carer’s allowance, state pension non-contributory and farm assist. The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: 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 to over 153,000 families in respect of some 281,000...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Data (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: One of the main principles of social insurance is that paid PRSI contributions are awarded to employed and self-employed workers based purely on the payment of PRSI on their income from employment. The payment these contributions allow workers to build up entitlements to benefits if and when certain contingencies arise in the future. This underpins the funding of the social insurance system...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Remuneration (27 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has undertaken no costing of the initiative outlined by the Deputy as the introduction of any minimum wage rate per hour would necessarily have to take place on a cross Governmental basis and costs determined centrally as part of the estimates budgetary process. Pre-determined salary scales negotiated at central level are applied to all staff in the department. On a purely...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (28 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 29 June 2016. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers were received in the Social Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (28 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 25 May 2016. Additional information in relation to the person’s application has been requested by a deciding officer. Once the information is received the application will be processed without delay and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Administration (28 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Since JobBridge started in 2011 it has helped about 19,000 mainly small employers to provide valuable work experience to nearly 48,000 unemployed jobseekers. The first independent evaluation of the scheme found that over 60% of participants progressed into paid employment within a short period of about completing their internship. This indicates that JobBridge has been instrumental in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Relief Eligibility (28 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned has been in receipt of a Mortgage Interest Supplement since April 2013. The claim was last reviewed in May 2016. A further review will be conducted on this claim to determine the correct entitlement and the necessary papers will be sent to the person concerned immediately. I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.