Results 3,101-3,120 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Reviews (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 108 together. My Department keeps means tests under regular review and there have been a number of significant changes made in this area in recent years. These include:Providing for higher earnings disregards for Disability Allowance, Blind Pension and One-Parent Family.Expanding the list of agri-environmental schemes that qualify for a disregard,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Guardians Payments scheme, first introduced in 1936, was originally called orphan’s payment. It was renamed guardian’s payment in July 2006, in recognition of the fact that the original remit of the scheme had been extended to include certain children who had not lost both parents through bereavement. The payment is made to a person caring for a child who satisfies the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: There are a number of payments and pensions paid by my Department to people over State Pension age. One of these is the State Pension (Contributory) (SPC), qualification for which is based on a number of criteria, including a minimum of 520 qualifying social insurance contributions having been paid. For those who have paid the required contributions, these will be used in the calculation of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Bodies (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I believe the Deputy is referring to Energy Poverty Steering Group. This group is under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Social assistance payments are means tested. The means assessment reflects the fact that there is an expectation that people with reasonable amounts of income or capital are in a position to use these resources to support themselves so that social welfare expenditure can be directed towards those who need it. However, in recognition of the benefits that work can bring – both...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The package of social protection measures in Budget 2024 are worth €2.3 Billion. For the second year in a row, it is the largest social protection package in the history of the State. Budget 2024 provided an extensive package of cost-of-living payments along with targeted measures to assist low-income families. These measures included: a €12 weekly rate increase in primary...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The overall expenditure for Farm Assist in 2023 was €53.937 million. This figure is provisional until the 2023 Accounts have been audited by the C&AG. At the end of December 2023, there were 270 individuals in Cork in receipt of Farm Assist. The number of recipients of Farm Assist in Cork east is not readily available in my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The over 80 allowance is an increase of €10 per week on the basic pension rate, which is automatically awarded to qualified pensioners on attaining 80 years of age. Only one such allowance is payable in respect of each pension. An Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA) is paid, generally, where a pensioner has an adult dependent (e.g., a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant who is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead Department for severe weather emergencies. My Department provides assistance to eligible households in the immediate aftermath of emergency weather events under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme. The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, administered by my Department through the local Community Welfare Service, was activated to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Government acknowledges the valuable role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy. This cross-departmental strategy is led by the Department of Health. The main income supports to carers provided by my department are Carer’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents. Supports provided under the scheme can consist of a basic weekly payment, a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses, as well...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: In September 2022, I announced a series of landmark reforms to the State Pension system in response to the recommendations from the Pensions Commission. This set of measures represents the biggest ever structural reform of the Irish State Pension system. One of the key measures under these reforms, which came into operation from the 1st January 2024 is the introduction of a flexible...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's Benefit is a payment made to insured people who may be required to leave the workforce or reduce their working hours to care for a person(s) in need of full time care. 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. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 364, 379, 384, 391 and 392 together. Section 9 of the Irish Sign Language (ISL) Act, 2017 assigns responsibility to the Minister for Social Protection to provide funds to facilitate users of ISL to access social, educational and cultural events and services (including medical) and other activities. I have assigned the implementation of this important...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Tax Collection (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: A PRSI rate increase of 0.1% across all rates of PRSI (employer, employee and self-employed) from 1 October 2024 was announced in Budget 2024. In November 2023 the Government agreed to further increases as follows: 2025: 0.1 percentage points 2026: 0.15 percentage points 2027: 0.15 percentage points 2028: 0.2 percentage points All of these PRSI increases will be effective from 1 October of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (20 Feb 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. Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly payment for a child aged under 16 with a severe disability, who requires...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 367 and 370 together. 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. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering 443,000 children are now eligible for funding. I am...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Government acknowledges the important role that carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy. My Department provides a comprehensive package of income supports for carers including carer’s allowance, carer’s benefit, domiciliary care allowance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) is an employment support to private sector employers, the objective of which is to encourage employers to employ people with disabilities and thereby increase the numbers of people with disabilities participating in the open labour market. The number of people benefitting from the Wage Subsidy Scheme who commenced in each month in years 2022, 2023 and January...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 372 and 373 together. The Wage Subsidy Scheme is an employment support to private sector employers, the objective of which is to encourage employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. The subsidy is paid to the employer and not the employee. To claim a subsidy under the scheme, the private sector employer must offer employment to a person...