Results 20,621-20,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Payments (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I wish to acknowledge the amount of time and effort Dr Millar and her team undertook in completing this study. My Department values social policy research and the contribution it makes in assisting the Department in terms of informing policy across its broad remit. The report will be helpful to my Department to see what can be learned from other countries about the active inclusion...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The most recent Survey on Income and Living Conditions relates to 2014. In 2014, lone parents were two-and-a-half times more at risk of poverty than the rest of the population. However, in 2004, during the economic boom, lone parents were over four-and-a-half times more at risk of poverty than the rest of the population. These figures are of course not acceptable but they show the long...

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

Leo Varadkar: 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, all contributions paid or credited over their working...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Eligibility (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 172 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Services Programme (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Community Services Programme (CSP) is designed to address locally identified gaps in the provision of services to communities and to utilise the potential of community assets and resources that are already in place to support of delivery of services and to improve community well-being. Funding is provided to support the employment of staff to deliver the service. Funding of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Review (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 44 together. Since its introduction in 2011, JobBridge has encouraged over 19,000 mainly small employers to provide work experience opportunities to over 48,000 jobseekers. Participation is entirely voluntary; there is no obligation on jobseekers to look for, or take up a JobBridge internship and jobseeker payments are not conditional on participation...

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

Leo Varadkar: All dealings and decisions made by corporate or individual trustees of an occupational pension scheme are governed by legislation and enforced through the supervision of the Pension Authority. Legislation together with the trust deed and scheme rules sets out the trustees’ duties and responsibilities. Trustees of pension schemes must act in the best financial interests of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Eligibility (6 Oct 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2016 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of €85 million on the farm assist...

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...