Results 21,861-21,880 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Information on the numbers of young people under 25 of age in receipt of Disability Allowance who have been supported to take an education, training and or work experience place under the Youth Guarantee programme is not available in a readily accessible format and cannot be disaggregated at this point in time. Under the Youth Guarantee the main innovation in dealing with young people on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Administration (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), which operates under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board (CIB), provides assistance to people who are over indebted and need help and advice in coping with their debt problems. CIB has been allocated state funding of €50 million for 2016, of which €20.6 million is allocated to the network of MABS companies. The Chief...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Partial Capacity Benefit Scheme Eligibility (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Partial Capacity Benefit scheme was introduced by my department in 2012. Its aim is to address a previous limitation of the welfare system by explicitly recognising and responding to the reality that some people with disabilities do have a capacity to engage in open market employment while continuing to need some income support. The scheme is open to people who are in receipt of Illness...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Training (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: All forms of discrimination, covered by equal status and employment equality legislation (including racism), are addressed in the current induction programme which is delivered to all new entrants to the Department by Staff Development Unit (SDU). Equality and diversity are further dealt with in the Department’s Customer Service training course with a focus on unconscious bias and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: In early December 2015, the Department of Social Protection activated its humanitarian assistance scheme, administered by the local Community Welfare Service (CWS), to assist householders affected by flooding following the severe weather conditions. Since December 2015, support has been provided under the scheme to 544 households with expenditure of over €1.27 million. The records...

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

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 3 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: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. Schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of illness, disability and caring schemes, can take longer to process. Similarly, means-tested payments...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Payments (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Following a recent request for a review and on receipt of relevant documentation, a review of entitlement in the case of the person concerned was carried out. Means have been revised with effect from 24 March 2016 and arrears outstanding will be processed and included in the next payment.

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

Leo Varadkar: All customers of the Department are made aware at point of application of their obligation to inform the Department of any change of circumstances. In 2014 during a routine review it transpired that the circumstances of the person concerned had changed which resulted in an overpayment. The person concerned was advised at the time that she could appeal the decision to the social welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Homeless Persons Supports (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The New Communities Unit (NCU) my Department offers assistance to families who are primarily non-Irish, homeless and generally without recourse to any weekly income. The main focus of this unit is to ensure that families receive an income maintenance payment, under the terms of the relevant legislation, from my Department. In addition non-Irish homeless families have been referred to this...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Data (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Department does not hold data on children over the age of 18, as this is not required for the administration of the child benefit scheme. Accordingly, the Department does not have details on the number of children aged 18-20 who are in full-time second level education and is not in a position to put a figure on the number of children in this age group who are not eligible for child...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As requested, the following table outlines the number in receipt of Family Income Supplement from 2008. Table 1 --- FIS Numbers Recipients - Families Year Amount 2008 27,798 2009 25,963 2010 28,223 2011 28,876 2012 32,307 2013 44,159 2014 50,306 2015 55,913 2016 56,078* *As of the 20 May 2016

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mental Health Services Funding (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: While my Department does not operate any scheme that provides direct funding to support arts and disability projects that are associated and assisting with mental health recovery, the Department is currently supporting a pilot project in 4 locations (West Cork, Mayo, Cavan/Monaghan and Galway) that aims to demonstrate how existing mental health teams and the supported employment service...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Estimate of Expenditure for the Department of Social Protection for 2017 will not be finalised until the Revised Estimates Volume is published later this year. Based on estimated expenditure for 2016, a saving in the region of €2.45 million would accrue to the Exchequer, if expenditure on professional fees was reduced by 10%. Please note that this includes legal, ICT external...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Estimate of Expenditure for the Department of Social Protection for 2017 will not be finalised until the Revised Estimates Volume is published later this year. Based on estimated expenditure for 2016, a saving in the region of €495,000 would accrue to the Exchequer, if expenditure on travel and subsistence was reduced by 10% next year.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: An application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 21 December 2015. CA is a social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State, satisfies a means test and who is providing full-time care and attention to another person who has a disability such that they require that level of care. A person can be considered to be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that my department is in receipt of an application for disability allowance from the above named person on 16 March 2016. On completion of the necessary investigations on all aspects of the claim a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. The processing time for individual disability allowance claims may vary in accordance with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Activation Projects (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Providing Equal Employment Routes (PEER) project was one of 14 disability activation projects (DACT), in the Border, Midlands & West region, which were jointly funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department of Social Protection (DSP), from the end of 2012 to April 2015. The project was delivered by the Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Community Employment (CE) is the largest employment programme administered by my Department and is a valuable resource for both jobseekers and communities. Currently, there are almost 22,940 participants and nearly 1,400 supervisors employed on CE at a cost of approximately €376.5m in 2016. As the Deputy will be aware, CE aims to enhance the employability and mobility of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Data (26 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: From 1 January 2016, a new tapering credit was introduced for PRSI Class A and Class H employees earning between €352.01 and €424.00 per week. In the case of employees earning €352 or less, PRSI is still not chargeable. The maximum weekly PRSI credit of €12.00 applies at gross earning of €352.01 and reduces the PRSI charge from €14.08 to...