Results 21,341-21,360 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Anti-Poverty Strategy (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is an absolute priority to improve those figures and to improve the lives of people in the coming years. As the Deputy said, consistent poverty stood at 8% in 2014. It is worth noting that in 2005, during the boom, it was 7%, so it is only 1% higher now than it was at a particular point in boom. This is not just about cash transfers. I attended a very good conference on child...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Anti-Poverty Strategy (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The figure was 8% for 2014 and, as we will not have the figure for 2016 until the end of 2017, we will not know how much lower it is than 8% until then. These will be difficult targets to meet and understanding them is a science in itself. Interestingly, the reason the number of children we have to take out of poverty has gone up from 70,000 to 97,000 is not because living conditions for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Post Office Network (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The programme for Government clearly states the Government’s commitment to actively encouraging payments at post offices. While responsibility for An Post and the post office network rests with my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, I want to highlight the size of my Department’s business with An Post, which was over 38 million transactions...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Post Office Network (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Both the Deputy and the Irish Postmasters Union have given me copies of correspondence with customers which, in my view, did encourage them to move to the bank without giving them an equal option of using the post office. That is why those letters have stopped. A circular will go to staff in the next week or two advising them to make sure that, in any correspondence, they give people the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme provides a one-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. It is not intended to cover the entire cost of going back to school, but, rather, to give parents a helping hand. It is not intended to cover items other than clothing and footwear....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, the Deputy is correct. The payment was cut twice by the Fine Gael-Labour Government, of which I was a member. Yes, I will be considering the rules around the scheme and the amounts paid in the context of the budget. However, I cannot make any commitments on the budget now. Speaking of Governments, the Deputy’s party has been a member of the Government in Northern Ireland...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: No one doubts the enormous cost of sending a kid to school every year. In the context of the budget and as part of the package for children in families, we will be looking at measures to make it more affordable, whether it is increases in the back to school clothing and footwear allowance or more assistance with school meals and school books schemes, which arguably could be more targeted....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I know the Deputy does not want to hear this but the cost of living is not half what it is here. It may be lower but it is not half. One action Sinn Féin can take to prove it is an all-Ireland party is to commit itself and its Democratic Unionist Party coalition partners to increase welfare rates to what they are in the Republic of Ireland, rather than prioritising the reduction of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Anti-Poverty Strategy (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Tackling poverty continues to be a priority for the Government. The updated national action plan for social inclusion identifies a wide range of targeted actions and interventions to achieve the overall objective of reducing poverty. The goals include a focus on early childhood development, youth exclusion, access to the labour market, migrant integration, social housing and affordable...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Implementation (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: JobPath is an activation service that supports long-term unemployed people and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid, suitable employment. Two companies, Turas Nua and Seetec, have been contracted to deliver JobPath services. The suitability of employment is a key factor in ensuring jobs are sustainable. If people are not placed in suitable jobs,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Implementation (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: To date, there have been either 28,000 or 50,000 referrals - I cannot remember the exact figure - to JobPath, which has been running for approximately a year. I am sure with any service there will be people with complaints or who have had a bad experience and I do not think they should be allowed to characterise the entire service, but I would encourage individuals who do have complaints...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Implementation (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, I am aware of allegations from reading newspaper reports from the UK. One will have allegations against the Department as well, never mind contractors. It is important to point out that there is a huge fundamental difference between what is being done in this country and what was done in the United Kingdom. None of the outsourced providers, whether they are local employment services...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Since January 2011, public office holders pay PRSI at the Class K rate of 4% on their income as an office holder, provided that income exceeds €5,200 a year. All public office holders are liable to pay the contribution regardless of age. Payment of Class K PRSI does not establish any social insurance entitlements. Prior to the introduction of the Class K charge, all public office...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Reflecting the impact of government policy, and the overall improvement in the labour market, youth unemployment has fallen substantially to 15% in May 2016. This compares with a figure of almost...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Pathways to Work includes a wide range of programmes and services - such as the Gateway initiative - to help jobseekers back to employment. Gateway provides work placements in local authorities for a period of 22 months for those who are unemployed for more than two years. While the majority of participants are selected on a random basis by my Department, the opportunity for voluntary or...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 20 together. Job Clubs assist “job-ready” jobseekers to secure paid employment in the open labour market. Job Clubs provide formal workshops, one-to-one engagements, CV preparation and a ‘drop-in’ facility where jobseekers can get advice and share experiences with other jobseekers. Community Employment is an employment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome the recent publication of the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice’s (VPSJ) report on the 2016 update of the expenditure and income required for a minimum essential standard of living. After a series of challenging years, improvements for people in receipt of social welfare payments began in Budget 2015 and continued in Budget 2016. These improvements are reflected...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy is aware, the purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support aimed at low-income farmers and fishermen in receipt of certain social welfare payments who are underemployed in their primary occupation. Persons are engaged for 19½ hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. The scheme currently provides work...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (30 Jun 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 almost €85 million on the farm...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department estimates spending €500 million on the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme in 2016. The scheme supports over 41,000 recipients and almost 74,300 children. The figure quoted by St. Vincent de Paul is based on SILC data for 2014 indicating a basic deprivation rate for lone parents of 58.7%. This was a decrease of 4.5% on 2013. Research shows that being at work...