Results 2,081-2,100 of 5,587 for speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Seanad: Commencement Matters: School Transport Provision (7 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills for her inability to take this Commencement matter in person. School transport is a very significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. This school year, for example, some 113,000 children, including almost 10,000 children with special educational needs, are being...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (7 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The limits on sick leave for JobBridge interns were designed having regard to the limited duration of the internship and is considered necessary to safeguard the integrity of the scheme. The condition applies to all interns regardless of background or circumstances. I have no immediate plans to change the terms and conditions of the scheme in that regard pending the evaluation of the scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobsPlus Scheme (7 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees from the Live Register and those transitioning into employment. It provides employers with two levels of payment - €7,500 or €10,000 - over two years provided the employment is maintained. The Department made payments of just over €1.793m in April 2015 to 3,437 employers in...

Other Questions: Gender Recognition (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: It is hoped that Committee Stage of the Bill will be taken shortly and we can debate the matter much more fully. It is a very sensitive matter. As the Deputy made her contribution, several contributions were made in the Seanad on this matter. That shows there is a lack of in-depth research on this area. One country has recently reviewed its policies and while it has self-certification, it...

Other Questions: Gender Recognition (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I hope the Bill comes back before the House as soon as possible. We are in discussions with the Royal College of Physicians. I understand the HSE is in contact with the IMO, but I will update the Deputy as soon as I have additional information. Subject to the ongoing consultation, I would hope to deal with Committee Stage as soon as possible. I have met almost everybody who has...

Other Questions: Gender Recognition (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I am deeply conscious of the sensitive issues which arise in regard to transgender children. The purpose of the Gender Recognition Bill 2014 is to provide that a person’s preferred gender will be fully recognised by the State for all purposes. This is a significant step and one which requires that the applicant is sufficiently mature to understand the implications of securing such...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Only a certain amount of units are available and we would just inflate the cost for low and middle income families. There is no doubt many people are in a very stressful situation, and I hope now that we are coming out of the recession we will be in a position to keep ploughing investment into the area. Rent supplement was never designed as a long-term housing strategy. It did become such...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The Government has already started to build social housing. Rent supplement supports approximately 70,000 people. It was just bonkers to allow the supplement to grow into a social housing strategy by accident.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I have talked to many people about this and not just in respect of the Dublin area. An increase in rent allowance probably will not result in a single additional unit. We are in the middle of a supply crisis. There are not enough units around the country. This is not just the case in Dublin. I was recently talking to councillors in Clonmel about the issue. There were only four...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: We have extensive forums within the Department for disability groups. I will not pre-empt the report but there is a strong commitment to assisting people with disabilities into employment. The Deputy will not find me lacking in hard work or commitment on that point.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Rent supplement continues to play a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 70,000 people this year at a cost of €298 million. Over 4,700 claims have been awarded in 2015, of which 1,380 were in Dublin. There are also over 1,600 people in receipt of the new housing assistance payment. This shows that landlords are engaging with the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for his question. It is certainly a priority of the Government that people are not left behind. The Government is anxious to facilitate the increased participation in employment of persons with a disability. It is committed to removing barriers which prevent those persons from availing of employment opportunities and will work closely with disability representative...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I know the Deputy feels very strongly about this issue. I have been around the country and I have seen excellent services being provided by the Department of Social Protection. I recently visited the EmployAbility programme in Galway, which is successful in helping people with disabilities into work. The partial capacity scheme, which was introduced by the Tánaiste, assists people to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Gender Recognition (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The resolution passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in relation to transgender rights covers a range of policy areas that are the responsibility of a number of different Government Departments. The resolution is grounded in the key principles that transgender people should be protected from discrimination and enabled to have their preferred gender formally recognised...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: School Meals Programme (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations which benefits almost 207,000 children through two schemes. The first is the statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department. The second is the school meals local projects scheme through which funding is provided...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 81 and 120 together. The rent supplement scheme provides support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are approximately 70,000 rent supplement recipients, of which over 3,600 are in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Operation (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: There has been no change in the entry requirements and operating procedures for CE Drug Rehabilitation schemes. These places are available to service users who are in drugs rehabilitation and referred to a place by an addiction service practitioner. Referral practitioners are key workers or case managers, counsellors, GPs, treatment centre practitioners, and health service practitioners. ...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: After-School Support Services (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The after-school child care scheme (ASCC) supports low-income unemployed people to return to the workforce. The scheme provides subsidised after-school childcare places to people with children of primary school age who find employment, increase the number of days they work or take up a place on an employment support scheme (with the exception of a community employment scheme). The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Services Programme (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The community services programme (CSP) is designed to address gaps in the delivery of key local services, to tackle disadvantage and to ensure that community facilities are utilised. Approximately 400 not-for-profit companies and co-operatives are being supported under the CSP with some 2,800 workers being supported in these organisations. Funding of €46m has been provided for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Places (6 May 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The following tables detail the breakdown by county (Dublin breakdown by postcode) of the Community Employment (CE) programme at year-end since 2010. The figure for 2015 reflects the number of CE places as at the end of April. The Department does not use the Dublin Local Authority boundaries to categorise CE projects. - 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012 County Participant Supervisor...