Results 2,481-2,500 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department does not administer private pensions mentioned by the Deputy. The number of claims which were rejected for the contributory social insurance-based pension, the State Pension (Contributory), in each of the last five years are shown in the table below. These figures include claims which may have been rejected for reasons other than insufficient contributions, such as when an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Government acknowledges the crucial role that carers play in Irish society and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. Carer's Allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that, as a result, they require that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The objective of the School Meals Programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Priorities (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability. These include contributory payments, based on PRSI contributions, such as Illness Benefit and Invalidity Pension, and non-contributory payments, based on a means test, such as Disability Allowance and Blind Pension. At an estimate, a non-means tested universal payment at...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Services (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a wide range of income and employment supports to assist jobseekers and employees with disabilities, and their employers. These supports include the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and the Disability Awareness Support Scheme. The Reasonable Accommodation Fund provides financial support for people with disabilities and for employers to help make their workplaces more...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: With more than 90 separate schemes and services in my Department, which affect the lives of almost every person in the State, I am committed to ensuring that members of the public are aware of the supports and services available to them through my Department. Public information campaigns play an important role in helping to make people aware of their benefits, and all of our advertising...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (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 in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: 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 number of weeks to award a Disability Allowance claim is currently 12 weeks. My Department understands the many pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: International Protection (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: In March 2022, the European Council adopted unanimously the implementing decision regarding the Temporary Protection Directive, due to the mass influx of persons fleeing Ukraine as a consequence of the war. People arriving from Ukraine under the Directive can move through the EU as EU citizens. In October 2023, the EU Council agreed to extend the period of temporary protection to March...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The main income supports to carers provided by my department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Spending on these payments is expected to amount to over €1.7 billion this year. Carer's Benefit is available to people who leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a child or an adult...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Business Supports (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: In general, the issue of targeted supports for businesses is a matter for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. However, the following is the position with regards to employer PRSI. The Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund as at 31 December 2020 found that even without any economic shocks to the economy or change to policy, the long-term sustainability of the Fund...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 14 November 2023. It is a condition for receipt of a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's Benefit is a payment made to insured people who leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a child or an adult in need of full-time care and attention. To qualify, the carer must satisfy PRSI conditions, employment conditions, show that they are providing full-time care and attention and must show that the care recipient requires full-time care and attention....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The objective of the School Meals Programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. he Programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following the expansion of the Programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. A total of €16.4m was paid across all private operators in the Free Travel scheme in 2023, including bus and ferry operators. The Free Travel Scheme is available to all persons aged over 66 and those under age 66 on certain qualified payments, who are...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The table below sets out the estimated PRSI yield that would be raised for each of the rate increases in the years concerned. In calculating the estimated yield from the specified employer PRSI rates on the portion of earnings in excess of €100,000 for classes A,B,C,D,E and H a 'netting off' approach has been taken to ensure there is no double-counting. The net yield is the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The living alone increase is a payment for people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments, including state pension (contributory), state pension (non-contributory), widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's (contributory) pension, widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's (non-contributory) pension, widow's/widower's pension under the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make an Additional Needs Payment (ANP) to help meet essential expenditure which an eligible person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income. ANPs are awarded at the discretion of the Designated Persons administering the scheme considering the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions. I confirm that my Department received an application for DA from the person concerned on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (25 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Further to Dáil Question number 236 dated 18/04/2024, the person concerned applied for a Personal Public Service (PPS) Number on 27/03/2024. The person has been contacted on several occasions and asked to provide evidence of a valid reason for their PPS Number request. As this information remains outstanding, their application cannot be processed. In order to obtain a PPS Number, a...