Results 21,761-21,780 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobPath Implementation (2 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 219, 220 and 221 together. JobPath will support long-term unemployed people and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. Two companies, Turas Nua and Seetec, have been contracted by the Department to deliver JobPath services. Participants on JobPath receive intensive individual support to help them...

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

Leo Varadkar: The debt in question occurred as the person concerned was absent from the State without notification to my Department from 5 November 2011 to 27 December 2012. Disability allowance (DA) was disallowed for that period as DA is not payable to persons while outside the State. The person concerned appealed this decision to the Social Welfare Appeal Office (SWAO) but the appeal against the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Rates (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the following table. These estimates are based on macro-economic indicators for 2016 only. The estimates do not take possible changes in employer or employee behaviour into account. Table: Yield from increased Class A Employer PRSI rates on income above €100,000 per annum Employer PRSI Rate Yield – Class A 12.75%...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The primary purpose of the PRSI credited contributions or “credits” credit is to protect social welfare benefits and pensions of employees, by covering gaps in insurance where they are not in a position to pay PRSI, such as during periods of unemployment, illness etc. Similar to other DSP schemes, credits can only be awarded provided certain qualifying conditions are met....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a social assistance payment made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a relevant person/persons and whose income falls below certain limits. Since 2013, the person in question has been in receipt of CA in respect of one care recipient. My department informs me that, to date, they have received no further application from the person in question...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Delays (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 23 March 2016. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new applications.Additional resources have been provided to the CA section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications and they are working hard to make this happen. Frequently, delays...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Activation Projects (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 and 128 together. The evaluation of the Disability Activation (DACT) project, conducted by Indecon International Economic Consultants on behalf of the department, found that although the projects had a number of innovative features and provided positive learning and development experiences, as well as health and social inclusion benefits for participants,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Strategies (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Comprehensive Employment Strategy (CES) for people with disabilities was published in October 2015. It sets out a ten-year approach to ensuring that people with disabilities who can and want to work are supported and enabled to do so. The CES sets out a range of actions across a number of departments. My Department has a number of commitments under the CES and these include the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Projects (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is detailed by scheme in the following tabular statement for years 2013 to 2015. County breakdown of activation participants for Waterford - Community Employment Rural Social Scheme Tús Gateway Back To Work Allowance Self-employed Back to Work Allowance Employee JobBridge Back to Education Allowance Partial Capacity Benefit Short-Term...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is detailed in the following tabular statement. Number of pending applications – 30 April 2016 Scheme Pending applications Jobseeker's Benefit 2,053 Jobseeker's Allowance 6,662 One-Parent Family Payment 1,119 State Pension Contributory (Domestic) 4,396 State Pension Transition (Domestic) 16 Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension 343 Widowed...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department is in receipt of an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new applications.Additional resources have been provided to the CA section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications and they are working hard to make this happen. Frequently, delays are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 29 April 2016. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new applications.Additional resources have been provided to the CA section in order to improve the waiting times for new applications and they are working hard to make this happen. This application...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (1 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that the department received an application for Carer’s Allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 10 November 2015 in respect of two care recipients. It is a condition for receipt of a CA 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware I have already announced that I plan to replace JobBridge with a more targeted scheme later this year. I believe that economic and labour market conditions have changed for the better since the scheme was introduced in 2011 and that the time may now be right for a more targeted scheme. JobBridge was developed in 2011 in response to the unemployment crisis to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2016 Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €2.8 billion. It is accepted that periods of unemployment are a normal feature of the acting and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My department informs me that there is no record of an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned. If the person in question wishes to make an application, he should complete and return the application form (CR1) that I have arranged to issue to him. On receipt of a fully completed application form, his entitlement to CA will be determined. I hope this clarifies...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Household Benefits Scheme (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The household benefits package (HHB) comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. The package is generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. The package is also available to carers and people with disabilities under the age of 66 who are in receipt of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Payments (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person in question was disallowed disability allowance (DA) on the grounds that he was not medically suitable for the scheme. He appealed that decision to the social welfare appeals office (SWAO). My department has been notified by the SWAO that the appeal for the person in question has been successful. A deciding officer will now implement the appeals officer’s decision and the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require that level of care. Where the care recipient is less than 16 years of age a domiciliary care allowance (DCA) must be in payment for them. The person concerned applied for CA on 9 January 2015 in respect of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: CA is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require that level of care. In order to assist the deciding officer (DO) to determine entitlement in this case, the application was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) to assess the level of care being provided, assess...