Results 21,401-21,420 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Applications (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I can confirm that an application for child benefit has been received from the person concerned. This claim has now been awarded and all arrears due for the period January 2014 to June 2016 will issue by cheque to her home address in the coming days. Payment for July will be available for collection at the nominated Post Office from Tuesday the 5th of July. I hope this clarifies the...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: If the Deputy provides details of cases for my Department, we will pursue them.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: If Deputy Micheál Martin is aware of someone who is breaking the law, he has a responsibility to pass on the information. I am not being a smart aleck.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My apologies.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Blind Person's Pension (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Blind Pension is a means-tested payment for blind people and certain people with low vision operated by my Department. Some €14 million has been allocated for the scheme this year, which has over 1,300 recipients. Budgets 2010 and 2011 reduced the weekly rate of payment for all working age schemes, including the Blind Pension. In this regard, the weekly personal rate for Blind...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 125 together. State pensions account for the single largest block of social welfare expenditure. In 2016, €6.976 billion will be spent on pensions, which represents 35% of the Department's total current expenditure. While expenditure on pensions is increasing by approximately €1 billion every five years because of demographic...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The provision of rent supplement in the Ballymun designated area of regeneration was identified by housing authorities as a risk to the tenure diversity objective of the project, aimed at achieving a balanced tenure mix through the provision of additional private market housing. In response to these concerns, Section 25 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 provided that a payment of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (29 Jun 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 has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Applications (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Jobseeker’s Allowance application for the person concerned has now been processed and payment approved from 17thFebruary 2016. The first payment will issue on 30thJune 2016. Any arrears due will be included in the first payment. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department received an application for Carer's Allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 5 November 2015. It is a condition for receipt of a CA that the carer must be providing full-time care and attention. It is a further condition that the person being cared for must require full-time care and attention. The evidence submitted in support of this application was examined...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Illness Benefit Appeals (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Illness Benefit is a payment for people who are incapable of work and who satisfy certain insurance contribution (PRSI) conditions. The person concerned was examined by one of my Department’s medical assessors in July 2015 who expressed the opinion that they were capable of work. This view was upheld by a deciding officer. The decision was appealed and, as part of the appeal process,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Public Services Card (PSC) is designed to replace other cards within the public sector such as the social services card and free travel pass and to make it easy for providers of public services to verify the identity of customer. A PSC is issued following a registration process called SAFE, which involves the capture of an individual’s photograph and signature and the verification...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Community Employment (CE) is a labour market activation programme which helps long-term unemployed people (those 12-months or more in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment) and other disadvantaged groups to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine. It is designed to be a temporary fixed-term activation intervention. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Community Employment (CE) is a labour market activation programme which helps long-term unemployed people (those 12-months or more in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment) and other disadvantaged groups to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine. It is designed to be a temporary fixed-term activation intervention. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The free travel scheme provides free travel for those with eligibility on the main public and private transport services which includes road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann, Luas and services provided by over 80 private transport operators. There are currently approximately 853,000 customers with direct...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department monitors on an ongoing basis all social welfare income support schemes including the one-parent family payment scheme (OFP). The majority of customers affected by the reforms to the OFP scheme transitioned to the jobseeker’s transitional payment (JST). My Department, at the request of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, intend to carry out a Value for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions shows that 134,000 children were living in consistent poverty in 2014 and 222,000 children were at-risk-of-poverty (relative poverty). Neither Eurostat nor the OECD produces a measure equivalent to the Irish measure of consistent poverty. Eurostat data find that 209,000 children were living in relative poverty in Ireland in 2014. This is a lower...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobPath Implementation (29 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Ireland’s Public Employment Service (PES) is managed by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and delivered directly by its own Intreo service as well as by contracted private companies under the JobPath service; the Local Employment Service (LES) and Job Clubs. The JobPath element of the service is a new approach to employment activation designed to support long-term unemployed...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (28 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There is no legislation pending on the particular matter raised by Deputy Healy-Rae. Ordinarily, social welfare payments are paid only to those who are habitually resident in the State. However, if people are absent from the State for a short period of time, it can be possible to continue those payments. If the Deputy would like to give me the details of the particular case to which he...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Paternity Leave (28 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As part of Budget 2016, the Government announced its plan to introduce two weeks paid paternity leave in September 2016. The legislative proposals for the introduction of paternity leave and paternity benefit are currently being debated in the Houses of the Oireachtas. When enacted, this legislation will allow new fathers, including fathers of adopted children, to start the combined package...