Results 19,881-19,900 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Senators for raising this issue. Everything they have said here is perfectly true. If someone who is a class A contributor comes into this House, they suddenly have nothing. The number of years they spend here will have an impact on their contributory pension, which they may have paid for before they came into the House from whatever form of employment they may have been in. I...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 383 and 415 together. The Department of Social Protection provides income supports through a mixture of contributory payments (which are based on a person's social insurance record) and means-tested social assistance payments. The State Pension (Non-contributory) is a means-tested payment for people aged 66 and over, habitually residing in the State, who do...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 384, 385 and 386 together. The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations benefitting 260,000 children. The objective of the programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Policies (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has delivered significant achievements since June 2020. At that time, the country was in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and this department introduced the Pandemic Unemployment Payment a few months previously in response to the unprecedented disruption to the labour market caused by Covid-19. Some 29.7 million PUP payments issued at a cost of over €9.2 billion...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned made a claim for Illness Benefit from the 4 April 2022 to the 16 October 2022. In order to qualify for Illness Benefit, a person must have 39 PRSI contributions paid or credited in the second last complete tax year from which the claim is made, or they must have 26 reckonable PRSI contributions paid in both the second last complete tax year and the year prior to that....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The provisional expenditure of Rent Supplement paid by the Department of Social Protection at end of October 2022 was €63.7 million. Rent supplement’s expenditure breakdown by county is not maintained. The scheme provides short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Carers 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. I confirm that my Department received an application for Carers Allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 3 July 2019...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Dec 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 fuel allowance is that a person must satisfy a means test. The fuel allowance means test is linked to the maximum rate of State pension (contributory). An...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In response to the ongoing cost of living pressures, I announced on Budget Day that my Department will spend approximately €1.2 billion on social welfare measures before January to help individuals and families through this difficult period. The Christmas Bonus is paid to pensioners, people with disabilities, carers, lone parents and long-term unemployed people in recognition of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Dec 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. Only one allowance is paid per household. In Budget 2023, I secured funding for the largest ever expansion of the Fuel...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned reached pension age on 27 January 2016. According to the records of my Department, they have a total of 1,510 qualifying paid and credited social insurance contributions for the period from their date of entry into insurable employment, 18 July 1966 to end of December 2015 which equates to a yearly average of 30 contributions. This gives entitlement to State pension...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Fuel Allowance is a means-tested payment to assist householders on long-term social welfare payments, or equivalent from an EU/country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Agreement, towards the cost of their winter heating needs. The person concerned applied for Fuel Allowance on 18 October 2022. I am pleased to inform the Deputy the person concerned was awarded Fuel allowance with effect...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In response to the ongoing cost of living pressures, my Department will spend approximately €1.2 billion in social welfare measures this year to help individuals and families through this difficult period. Traditionally, Illness Benefit was not a qualifying payment for the Christmas Bonus as Illness Benefit is a scheme which, by its nature, is a short-term social welfare scheme....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Bus Services (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 398, 399 and 400 together. The free travel scheme was introduced in 1967 to promote social inclusion and prevent the isolation of elderly and disabled people by taking advantage of free space on public transport services. The scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, Local Link, Luas and a range of services offered by some 77 private...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Further to the Deputy’s Dáil Questions Nos. 243 and 260, the person concerned applied for an Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) for house repairs. In order to complete the assessment of the application, the local Community Welfare Officer requested additional information from the person on 26/10/2022. As this information has not yet been received in my Department, the person's ENP...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 Dec 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. The person concerned was awarded the Fuel Allowance from 6 January 2023. The person concerned was notified in writing on 06 December 2022. I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned applied for Fuel Allowance, which was awarded with effect from 4 November 2022. The person was notified in writing of this decision on 2 November 2022 and received their first payment on 11 November 2022, which included arrears from 4 November 2022. As part of the overall social welfare Budget 2023 package of €2.2 billion, I announced an additional cost of living...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires ongoing continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of that normally required by children of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 consecutive...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Invalidity pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions. The Department received a claim for IP for the person concerned on 28 July 2022. To qualify for IP a claimant must, inter-alia, have at least 260 (5 years) paid PRSI contributions since...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Dec 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child, aged under 16 with a severe disability who requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the level of care and attention normally required by children of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 consecutive...