Results 2,421-2,440 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. The activation support programme provides funding to local organisations and agencies to implement training and education initiatives. It is focused on the needs of social welfare recipients, and their families, who are very distant from the labour market. There is a plethora of other initiatives that help people to get back into the labour force. The Department makes...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The expenditure in Cork involved the provision of €59,000 to two organisations: the social and health education project, SHEP, and Cork Education and Training Board. SHEP is an Irish community education and development organisation based in Ballintemple, County Cork. It received funding towards the provision of its certificate of personal development in a number of locations in Cork....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Government is committed to supporting older people to access timely, high-quality, person-centred and integrated care in the most appropriate setting and to support positive ageing across the life course. To this end, the Minister for Health and the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people brought forward a proposal for the establishment of an independent...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Department has activation programmes. The level of unemployment among young people tends to be higher and we specifically want to focus on young people and on getting them back into the workforce. I visited Kilkenny yesterday and there was a jobs fair there. I have to say-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Yes, and that is why we have a Minister of State with responsibility for older people. I can only speak of what my Department is trying to do. I am also happy to work with the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people, Deputy Butler, to progress any suggestions she might have in terms of how we can work with older people. We meet with Age Friendly Ireland....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: There is a great nationwide programme, also in my own county, the university of the third generation, I think.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Yes. They do really good work.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I have spoken to them in my role as Minister for business about how they could contribute. We should tap into that resource. I know some of those involved well and they have a lot to offer. I agree with the Deputy. We are missing a trick in terms of the valuable resource that we have in our older generation. As he said, we need some way to activate them. I am happy to examine how we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The figures were for a ten-year period during which 69% of appeals were subsequently allowed or partially allowed. We are not trying to block people from getting their payments. That is not what I am trying to do. That is not true. Look at the statistics. The number of people receiving disability allowance has increased massively in recent years. Slightly more than 100,000 people were...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Deputy Bruton is absolutely right. I also see that in my office. Much of the medical information is not put down. It is on the provision of further medical information that the payment is granted. We have done a lot for carers. A pension scheme has been introduced for long-term carers. The carer's support grant has been increased to its highest ever level. The weekly carer's payment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: -----that from June a couple will be able to have weekly earnings of €900 and €50,000 in savings and still qualify for the full carer's allowance payment.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: An interdepartmental group has been set up to examine what further work we can do on the means test. I assure Deputies that I am committed to working with our carers to continue to give them support in carrying out the valuable work they do.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Department's activation and family support programme provides funding to assist local organisations and agencies to implement training and education initiatives to address the needs of recipients of welfare payments and their families who are distant from the labour market. The programme is demand-led and is designed to fund one-off projects in response to local customer needs, as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Payments (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputy Tully for raising this matter. As she will be aware, one of the main ideas in the Green Paper I published for consultation last year was to consolidate disability allowance, blind pension and invalidity pension into one single payment. I sought people's views on an approach to providing additional support to those most in need by increasing payments for those people with most...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Payments (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I agree with the Deputy's initial question. There are too many different payments trying to do the same thing, whether it is disability allowance, invalidity pension, blind pension or partial capacity benefit. Sometimes people are on long-term illness benefit. For children there is domiciliary care allowance. The Green Paper, in fairness, was trying to put a more unified and coherent...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Payments (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: That is what I am trying to do and what the Green Paper was trying to do, but people were not happy with it. I listened to their concerns. There is a lot of information and we did a lot of consultation during the Green Paper when it was published. We will take lessons from those too. There is now a Cabinet committee and I know there will be a huge focus on this. We have to come together...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The social welfare appeals office is an office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions relating to social welfare payments. Appeals officers are independent in their decision-making functions. Between 2014 and the end of March 2024, 241,019 disability allowance claims were received by the Department. Those figures are for ten...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Citizens Information Services (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: What I am saying is that I will not be found wanting, depending on the Labour Court outcome. We have to hear what it has to say. These people, as the Deputy knows, are set up in such a way that they are not employees of my Department. That probably emanates from voluntary boards many years ago. That is the way it is, so we have to go through the process. The Labour Court will make its...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Directives (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The war in Ukraine has resulted in the largest humanitarian effort in the State's history. Ireland has responded to the war with a co-ordinated, whole-of-government response and has provided protection and support to those who have had to flee from the violence in Ukraine. More than 106,000 people have arrived in the State since the European Council unanimously adopted the implementing...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Directives (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The extension of the directive, which expires in March 2025, as I said to the Deputy, is a matter for the Minister for Justice. She is discussing that and we will decide that as part of an EU response. I have already signalled that I do not think it is sustainable long-term that people would get their accommodation provided for and receive full social welfare payments. We will look at...