Results 22,161-22,180 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Authentication (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Public Services Card (PSC) is designed to replace other cards within the public sector such as the free travel pass and the social services card of this Department. Registration for a PSC is achieved through a robust process known as “SAFE” where a customer’s identity is verified by the Department of Social Protection to a substantial level of assurance. SAFE...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The EmployAbility programme is a national employment service dedicated to improving employment outcomes for job seekers with a disability. EmployAbility participants are people with a disability, which can range from physical to mental health, who are able to work a minimum of 8 hours per week and who need the support of a job coach to obtain employment in the open labour market. There are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Operation (17 May 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: Unemployment Data (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: In the first instance, the Government’s primary strategy to tackle unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. However, the Government also recognises the need for additional measures to address unemployment in the interim while the economy recovers. This is the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: A qualifying condition for state pension (contributory) is that a claimant must have a minimum of 520 paid social insurance contributions. According to the records of the Department, the person concerned has a total of 505 contributions, based on an aggregation of their Irish and EU social insurance records. In certain cases, where a person under state pension age ceases to be covered...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned submitted an application for disability allowance on 21 March 2016. The application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused on medical grounds and the person in question was notified in writing of this decision on 12 May 2016 and of her rights of review and appeal. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Data (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 505 to 507, inclusive, together. JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme, was introduced in July 2011 in response to the unprecedented collapse in the economy – particularly the sharp increase in unemployment. The primary aim of the scheme is to give unemployed people the opportunity to secure work experience and prove their competence to prospective...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There were a total of 4,066 customers who commenced Family Income Supplement (FIS) after transitioning from One Parent Family payment at the end of 2015. A person on OFP with one child would receive a payment of €217.80 per week if they have no means. If they are no longer entitled to OFP they would move to Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (JST) and would receive the same...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Department keeps the eligibility criteria for Community Employment (CE) places under on-going review to ensure that they are effective in targeting long-term unemployed jobseekers and other specific disadvantaged groups. The eligibility rules and maximum durations allowed for participants are strictly enforced to allow the maximum number of people to benefit from the opportunity of a CE...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Department’s Customer Charter and Action Plan 2013-2015 sets out the level of service customers can expect when dealing with the Department and its commitment to provide a professional, efficient, courteous and timely service to all of its customers. My Department is committed to ensuring that a customer service ethos is embedded in everything it does and is embraced by everyone...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Deciding officers can elect to backdate claims where considered appropriate, taking account of the specific circumstances of a claim. However, data on the types of decision sought by the Deputy is not available. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Deciding officers can elect to backdate claims where considered appropriate, taking account of the circumstances of the claim. Provided the relevant customer proves, to the satisfaction of the Deciding Officer, that there was good cause for the delay in making a claim and the customer was entitled to payment from the earlier date, the officer may backdate a claim for up to 6 months. However,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that an application from the person concerned for disability allowance (DA) was received by the Department on 19 November 2015. The application has been referred to a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) for a report on the person’s means and circumstances. Following a meeting with the SWI, the person in question has undertaken to provide further documentation in support of their...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I have been advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the Appeals Officer who allowed the appeal of the person concerned made an error in doing so as he failed to have regard to the grounds of the Deciding Officer’s disallowance i.e. the fact that the person concerned did not satisfy the PRSI conditionality of the invalidity pension scheme. In order to qualify for invalidity...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB) is a social welfare scheme which allows a person return to employment if they have a reduced capacity for work and to continue to receive a payment from my department. Applications for PCB are, in the first instance, assessed by a Medical Assessor who gives an opinion on the degree of capacity to work. The deciding officer, having considered all the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned is currently in receipt of a jobseekers transition payment for themselves and her three child dependants. If they are experiencing financial difficulties they should be advised to contact their local Community Welfare Service, based at the Intreo Centre in Blanchardstown, with a view making an appointment wherein details of her circumstances may be explored and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 11thMay 2016, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned. Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new application. 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 outside...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Applications (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned has been awarded invalidity pension with effect from the 17 March 2016. Payment will issue to her nominated bank account on the 26 May 2016. Any arrears due from 17 March 2016 to 25 May 2016 (less any overlapping social welfare payment and/or outstanding overpayment) will issue in due course. The person in question was notified of this decision on the 12 May 2016. ...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I confirm that the department is in receipt of an application for disability allowance from the above named person on 31 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...