Results 19,761-19,780 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Community Employment (CE) forms an important pillar in the strategy to assist long-term unemployed people return to the open labour market. It does this through the provision of opportunities within local communities to gain work experience and training qualifications, while at the same time, supporting the delivery of important services to communities. The current eligibility criteria...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Question Nos. 42 and 46 together. The State pension contributory is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Therefore, it is important to ensure that those qualifying have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement to a State pension,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Participants for Tús are selected by my Department from those in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment for 12 months or more. They are informed that they have been selected for the programme and their contact details are sent to the relevant Implementing Body. To further support the recruitment process, the Department has put arrangements in place for jobseekers meeting the criteria...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Payments (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Child Benefit is a universal payment to help families with the cost of raising children. It does not rely on a means test or social insurance contributions and is paid to the parents of qualified children up to the age of 16 years. For older children aged 16 and 17 years, child benefit is payable subject to a declaration from a parent, signed by their school, that their child is in full...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009 and were further extended in subsequent budgets and apply to jobseekers under 26 years of age. These measures were introduced as they were considered to protect young people from welfare dependency by providing young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Applications (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned has been awarded invalidity pension with effect from the 14 July 2016. Payment will issue to her nominated bank account on the 13 October 2016. Any arrears due from 14 July 2016 to 12 October 2016 (less any overlapping social welfare payment and/or outstanding overpayment) will issue in due course. The person in question was notified of this decision on the 3 October...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Adoption Registration (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Adoption Act 2010 provides for two versions of certificates of entries to be issued by the General Register Office. Section 87 provides for a copy of the entry and contains details that it is taken from the Adopted Children Register. Section 89 of the Act provides for an abridged certificate of entry the format of which is set out by regulations made by the Minister for Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Living Alone Allowance (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Living Alone Allowance is an additional payment of €9.00 per week made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments, including State pensions, and who are living alone. It is also available to people who are less than 66 years of age, living alone and in receipt of disability allowance, invalidity pension, incapacity supplement or blind...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: State pensions account for the single largest block of social welfare expenditure. This year, my Department will spend almost €7 billion on pensions, with the State Pension Non-Contributory (SPNC) accounting for just over €950 million of this expenditure. Eligibility for SNPC is means tested and takes into account the income and assets of both the claimant and his or her...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Government’s commitments to facilitating increased participation in employment for people with disabilities are reflected in the Comprehensive Employment Strategy (CES) for People with Disabilities. The Department of Social Protection provides a wide range of work related supports for people with disabilities. It should be noted that the employment supports are of a voluntary...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Central Statistics Office Reports (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Since the crisis, there has been widespread agreement on the need for broader measures of social well-being that go beyond income and economic growth. My Department recently published exploratory research on measuring Quality of Life (QoL) to inform this debate. The analysis by the ESRI is based on data from the CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions in 2013. The researchers defined...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to low income households. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. Qualifying...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The rent supplement scheme is currently supporting some 50,700 recipients for which the Government has provided €267 million for in 2016. Under the legislative provisions governing rent supplement, the Department’s relationship is with the tenant and there is no direct relationship between the landlord and the Department in the administration of the scheme. The most recent...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Payments (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: At the time of the Carrickmines tragedy, this Department ensured continuity of income to the surviving families concerned. The Department ensured that those customers affected received financial assistance with unforeseen and exceptional expenses arising from the tragedy. The Department assisted towards the provision of clothing/household items and also assisted with funeral expenses. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: An application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 26 April 2016. 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 throughout the day in connection with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 17thAugust 2016, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Support Payments (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The support payments provided for children with disabilities, including domiciliary care allowance and Carers Allowance are routinely reviewed in a budget context, within the constraints of competing priorities and available resources. Indeed, one such payment, the Carers Support Grant, was recently increased to €1700 per annum per child. My colleague, Simon Harris, Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As a result of Budget 2016 all Social welfare payments to recipients aged 66 and over were increased by €3 per week. This increase applied to State pensions, but also to Widows/Widowers/Surviving Civil Partners pension recipients aged 66 and over, Carer's Allowance recipients aged 66 and over and Incapacity Supplement recipients aged 66 and over. A widow/widower/surviving civil...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Waiting Times (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Processing times for all schemes are kept under constant review. My Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Operational processes, procedures and the organisation of work are continually reviewed to ensure that processing capability is maximised. In addition, the staffing needs of my Department are regularly reviewed, having regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Sector Staff Data (6 Oct 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...