Results 22,201-22,220 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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 from the person concerned on 11 January 2016. Additional information that was omitted from the application was requested by a deciding officer and is still awaited. Once this information is received the application will be processed and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope...

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

Leo Varadkar: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a social assistance payment made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to people with disabilities who require full-time care and attention and whose income falls below certain limits. When an applicant is getting certain social welfare payments and providing full-time care and attention to another person, they can keep their main social welfare...

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

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 545, 546, 549 and 552 together. The cost of increasing the weekly rates of payment for all pensioners aged 66 and over (State Pension Contributory, State Pension Non-Contributory, Widow’s, Widower’s and Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory Pensioners aged 66 and over, Carer’s Allowance recipients aged 66 and over, Death Benefit...

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

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 547 and 548 together. The overall concern in recent years has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. Expenditure on pensions at approx. €6.976 billion is the largest block of expenditure in the Department in the Estimate for 2016, representing approx. 35% of overall expenditure. Because of demographic changes, the Department’s...

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

Leo Varadkar: The State pension is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Therefore, it is important to ensure that those qualifying have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. State pensions account for the single largest block of social welfare expenditure, and while expenditure on pensions is increasing by approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (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 11 May 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 is...

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

Leo Varadkar: The State pension contributory is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Therefore, it is important to ensure that those qualifying have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement to a State pension, all contributions paid over their working life from when...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 56,800 people for which the Government has provided approximately €267 million for 2016. Persons seeking a rent supplement must first satisfy a decision maker that they have a housing need that they are unable to meet from within their own resources. In addition, the...

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

Leo Varadkar: 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 aim of the scheme is to provide unemployed people with the opportunity to secure work experience and to prove their competence to prospective employers, thereby breaking the vicious cycle of “no work, no...

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

Leo Varadkar: An application for Disability Allowance by the person concerned was allowed by a Deciding Officer of the Department on 30 April 2014 at a reduced rate based on her means. I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there is no trace of any appeal against this decision having been received from the person concerned. In the normal course, an appeal against the decision of a...

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

Leo Varadkar: I can confirm that the department is in receipt of an application for disability allowance from the above named person on 2 December 2015. However, the person concerned was requested to supply supporting documentation required by the deciding officer in order to make a decision on her eligibility. On receipt of this information a decision will be made and the person concerned will be...

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 on 14 April 2016 in respect of two care recipients. The application was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) on 5 May 2016 to assess the level of care being provided, assess means and confirm that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (17 May 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. The department informs me that to date, no application by the person concerned for CA has been received. Accordingly, I have arranged for an application form (CR1) to issue, which the person...

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 on 29 February 2016. Unfortunately, there are presently some delays in processing 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,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Data (17 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly payment to the parent/guardian of a child with a disability so severe that the child requires care and attention and/or supervision substantially in excess of another child of the same age. This care and attention must be provided to allow the child to deal with the activities of daily living, and s/he must be likely to require this level of care...

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

Leo Varadkar: The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. The average waiting time for new carer's allowance (CA) applications at the end of March was 19 weeks. The time take to process CA claims is a consequence of continued strong claim...

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

Leo Varadkar: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 26th February 2016. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Following receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made by a Deciding Officer and notified to the person concerned. Applications are processed in date of...

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 on 26 February 2016. It is a condition for receipt of CA that where the care recipient is aged less than 16 years, Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) must be in payment in respect of them. As an application for DCA in respect of the care recipient is still under consideration, CA...

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

Leo Varadkar: A breakdown of the average time taken by the Department to award applications for social welfare payments, as of April 2016, is detailed in the following table. The processing times provided in the table are calculated on the basis of the total time from the registration date of the claim to final award. The processing times vary by scheme. This principally reflects the fact that the legal...

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

Leo Varadkar: The average appeal processing time for appeals determined by summary decision and following an oral hearing in 2015 and to date in 2016 broken down by all social welfare scheme types is as outlined in the tables below. The unprecedented increase in appeal receipts since 2009 placed considerable pressure on the appeals office and impacted adversely on processing times. The overall number of...