Results 20,321-20,340 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (3 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My department will contact the person concerned and make arrangements to meet with her to clarify her situation and to determine the most suitable support available to assist her in gaining sustainable employment.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobPath Implementation (3 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: JobPath is a new approach to employment activation which caters for people who are long-term unemployed (over 12 months) to assist them to secure full-time paid employment or self-employment. Two providers are contracted to deliver JobPath for this Department– Seetec Limited and Turas Nua Limited. The person concerned was referred to JobPath on 21 May 2016 and agreed a Personal...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (3 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 99 together. The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. The current processing times for Carers Allowance (CA) applications is 14 weeks and for Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA)...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (3 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 5 October 2016. This application will be processed as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. In the meantime, both the person concerned and his spouse are in receipt of a weekly social welfare support. I hope this clarifies the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Live Register Data (3 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: At the end of September there were 286,490 people on the Live Register (published by the Central Statistics Office at www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/lr/liveregistersept ember2016/). My records show that 55,075 (19.2%) of those people stated at the time of making their Live Register claim that their principal skills and/or experience related to Construction, Woodwork, Metal and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) is a payment for men and women under 66 who are bringing children up without the support of a partner. To get this payment you must meet certain conditions and you must satisfy a means test. OFP is payable in addition to the following social welfare payments: - Child Benefit; - Half-rate Adoptive Benefit; - Half-rate Health and Safety Benefit; - Half-rate...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The following table sets out the monthly breakdown of Department of Social Protection payments issued to Dunlewey Post Office, Dunlewey, County Donegal since September 2015: Month Number of Payments Sep-15 96 Oct-15 125 Nov-15 100 Dec-15 89 Jan-16 101 Feb-16 102 Mar-16 90 Apr-16 108 May-16 94 Jun-16 104 Jul-16 132 Aug-16 126 Sep-16 129

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Administration (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Child Benefit is a universal payment made to parents/guardians for the support of their children. It is paid to some 615,000 families in respect of 1.19 million children, with an expenditure of approximately €1.9 billion in 2015. Safeguarding the child benefit payment is a priority and the Department takes a proactive approach to ensuring that it is only paid to eligible families....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Payments (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The State pension (contributory) SPC 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, all contributions paid or credited over their...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Department periodically reviews claims in payment to ensure that there is continued entitlement. Carer’s allowance (CA) was in payment to the person concerned from 13 July 2007 and a review was recently carried out. As part of that review the matter was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) to assess the level of care being provided, assess means and confirm that all...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Question No 123 of 14 July 2016. The client concerned has not, to date, provided the required documentation outlined in response to the previous Parliamentary Question. On receipt of same the client's rate of Rent Supplement entitlement can be re-assessed. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my Department received an application for carer’s benefit from the person concerned on 26 September 2016. It is a condition for receipt of carer’s benefit 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: An application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 24 February 2016. As a result of an appeals officer’s decision the application was awarded to the person concerned on 28 October 2016 and the first payment will issue to her nominated post office on 3 November 2016. Arrears for the period 25 February 2016 to 2 November 2016 have also issued to the post...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Qualified Child Increase Payments (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The application for an increase for a qualified child by the person concerned has been awarded. Arrears will issue next week. I hope this clarifies the matter for the deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together. As the Deputy is aware, the aim of the community employment (CE) programme is to enhance the employability of disadvantaged and unemployed people by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. As of the end of September, there were nearly 22,200 participants on various community employment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Treatment Benefit Scheme Eligibility (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Qualification for the Department’s treatment benefit scheme, which includes optical and dental benefits, is based on a person’s PRSI record, only PRSI paid at Class A, E, H, or P currently count towards qualification for the benefit. To qualify, a person aged over 66 (there is no specific rule for those aged 70+) must: - Have paid at least 260 Class A/E/H/P PRSI contributions...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: In general PRSI is charged on income, including income from self-employment, where the individual is over 16 years and under pensionable age, currently 66 years. 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. The payment of Class S contributions entitles...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (2 Nov 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 will shortly be informed of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Carer’s allowance (CA) was in payment to the person concerned from 30 March 2000 to 21 October 2009 in respect of one care recipient. Following a review, it was decided that the person concerned was not entitled to CA from 30 August 2007 to 1 August 2008 as she was working for more than 15 hours per week outside the home, contrary to the conditions for receipt of payment and that she...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (2 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 208 and 209 together. The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to low income households. It was paid to 390,958 recipients in 2015. The estimated cost of the scheme in 2016 is €224 million. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance...