Results 20,141-20,160 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is detailed in the following tabular statement. Carer’s Allowance Period Registered Awarded Disallowed Pending November 2015 to October 2016 21,546 17,951 10,552 3,833 November 2014 to October 2015 18,186 14,592 8,166 5,120 Percentage Variance 18.5% 23.0% 29.2% -25.1% Invalidity Pension Period Registered Awarded Disallowed Pending...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Live Register, which captures those registering for unemployment benefits (including those working part-time and in casual work who draw partial unemployment payments), is an administrative record. It is not the official measure of unemployment, but can give indicative trends. The official measure of unemployment is sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). Measures...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Self-employed persons, who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. This provides them with access to the following benefits: State pension (contributory), widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s pension (contributory), guardian’s payment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Data (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €30.3 million for the ENP scheme in 2016. The ENP scheme is demand led and payments are made...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Deserted Wife's Benefit Data (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Deserted Wife's Benefit is a payment made to a woman deserted by her husband. The Deserted Wife's Benefit scheme was closed off to new applications with effect from 2 January 1997, when One-Parent Family Payment was introduced.Entitlement to payment is based on social insurance contributions paid by the wife or her husband. A person who qualified for Deserted Wife's Benefit before 2 Jan...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Unemployment Benefits Data (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is detailed in the tabular statement. Number of persons in receipt of unemployment assistance or unemployment benefit in County Kildare at end of December 2012 and the end of October 2013 to 2016 Jobseeker’s Allowance Jobseeker’s Benefit Recipients Percentage Change Recipients Percentage Change October 16 8,446 -19.7% 1,637 -11.7%...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The following table provides the data requested by the deputy for 2015 and 2016: - State Pension Contributory State Pension Non-Contributory Total - €000 €000 €000 2015 expenditure 4,475,691 972,206 5,447,897 Beneficiaries at end December 2015 - State Pension Contributory State Pension Non-Contributory Total Recipients 361,725 95,179 456,904 Qualified adults...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 13 October 2016. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to around 624,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We have carried out a review of the community employment, Gateway and Tús programmes. I should be in a position to publish it in the coming weeks. I wish to point out two things. People spend a year on Tús. It is important that they do not spend too long on Tús, because people on Tús are supposed to move on to employment. We do not want people to spend their lives...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I apologise for the delay in starting. There was crash involving a truck on the M50 and then it started to snow. Of course, these things never happened when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, but they do on occasion. The Deputy is correct. This section simply extends access to invalidity pension to self-employed persons and will not take effect until December 2017. I would...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There were three bereavement grants available at one stage. There was the general bereavement grant that almost everyone received and which was abolished by the previous Government. There is a bereavement payment in cases involving the death of a person in the course of work. It is PRSI related. If a person dies in the course of his or her work or even on the way to work, the payment is...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised by my officials that the Deputy is correct. References to the bereavement grant remain in the Bill, but it is not a live scheme. I guess one might say the Bill still makes legislative provision for it, but the payment is zero. We will retain the provision in law in order that the payment may be restored in the future.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputies points are well made. In the course of the budget negotiations my efforts were initially aimed at ensuring that there would be a €5 increase in the basic maximum payments for all recipients and that this would be the case across the board. That was my first priority. My second priority was that the increase would be €5. My third priority was that it would be put...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: This is provided for in the Estimates. The intention is that from March self-employed people will have access to the free dental check and eye test for the first time, just as employees do. Then, from October, everyone, including self-employed and employed, in other words all contributors to PRSI, will once again have access to scale and polish treatment for teeth as well as subsidised eye...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am a great believer in social insurance and the contributory principle. This is the idea that everyone pays into the system. Everyone should pay social insurance, even if it is only a small amount. In return, everyone should benefit. We run the risk in this society of dividing society into a group of people who pay a lot of taxes and get little in return, because they are excluded due...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is a fair question and the Deputy did not mishear me. Discussions have taken place at official level and I will be involved further discussions in the next week or two. It is my strong view that before entering negotiations - technically, under competition legislation, they are probably not negotiations - or discussions with a professional body, we should first come to the House and...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We will certainly examine chiropody as part of the long-term programme to expand the social insurance system. The Deputy has my commitment on this. My priority is to restore what was taken away first and then look at new benefits. There have been discussions and an exchange of correspondence. What there has not been is a meeting involving me. The first such meeting will happen on Monday....

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 4:In page 7, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:“Employment contributions – members of local authorities10.Section 30A (inserted by section 14 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010) of the Principal Act is amended—(a) in the definition of “public office holder”, by the deletion of paragraph (h), and (b) in the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There will be a commencement order. Subject to the Bill passing through the Houses, I intend to sign a commencement order for it to come into effect in January.