Results 3,481-3,500 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I can inform the Deputy that the preliminary figures indicate that the number of PPS numbers issued in 2023 was 271,322. This compares to 249,000 PPS Numbers issued in 2022. A breakdown by nationality is set out in the table below. Some nationalities have been grouped together under the category "other" for presentation purposes. Nationality PPS Numbers Issued ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Ministerial Staff (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I have dual responsibility for the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD). I currently have Garda Drivers who come under the auspices of the Department of Justice and my Departments do not hold the information requested on Garda Drivers. The Minister of State in DRCD and the Department of Social Protection has two Civilian Drivers and the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jan 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. My Department received correspondence from the person concerned on 21 June 2023 notifying a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly allowance payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and where the level of that disability is such that the child is likely to require this level of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Department received an application for Disability Allowance (DA) from the person concerned on 4 January 2024. On 22 January 2024, the person was requested to supply supporting documentation required by the deciding officer in order to make a decision on their eligibility. On receipt of this information, a decision will be made on their DA application and the person will be notified of the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Community Recognition Fund recognises the huge efforts made by communities in welcoming and supporting people coming to Ireland. Funding of €50 million for some 900 projects is supporting towns and villages nationwide that have welcomed people from Ukraine and other countries. The Fund aims to support the development of facilities that will be used in the future by all members...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Contracts (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has availed of services from the company referenced in the details supplied. Following a public procurement procedure in 2023, they were the successful tenderer to undertake a feasibility study on the extension of the Connected Hubs platform to include remote working hubs in Northern Ireland. The value of the contract is €84,500 (ex....

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: CLÁR is designed to support a vast array of community based projects such as astro-turf facilities, playgrounds, sensory gardens, outdoor cinemas, walking tracks and community gyms. Since the programme was relaunched in 2016, it has supported a wide range of measures with over €70 million being approved for almost 2400 projects throughout rural Ireland. Funding of almost...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a range of supports which are available to Women’s Sheds, depending on the works being completed. In December 2023, I was delighted to launch the Local Enhancement Programme (LEP) which replaces my Department’s Community Enhancement Programme, with capital funding of €6 million to assist thousands of community groups across the country. The overall...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme makes an important contribution to connectivity in rural Ireland. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the scheme is funded into the future. The scheme was re-introduced in 2017 following a...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Ministerial Staff (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As Minister for Rural and Community Development and also for Social Protection, I have been assigned two Garda Drivers, who are employed by the Department of Justice and as such, my Department does not hold the information requested. In relation to Minister of State Joe O’Brien, he has two Civilian Drivers and the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Policies (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment is responsible for broader enterprise policy and its White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030, confirms that social enterprises are an important and growing part of Ireland’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, creating jobs and stimulating local economic activity. Falling under my Department’s policy responsibility, social enterprises...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Policies (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: While my colleague, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly T.D., is responsible for remote delivery of health services, there are a number of initiatives underway in my Department which will be of interest to the Deputy. One of the key focuses of Our Rural Future, the Government's Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, is optimising digital connectivity to support vibrant, sustainable rural...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) is funded by my Department under Our Rural Future. The scheme provides funding for the development and enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as walking trails, cycleways and blue ways throughout rural Ireland. Since the launch of the scheme in 2016, funding of almost €109 million has supported more than 1,550...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Programmes (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The LEADER Programme is a key intervention of Our Rural Future, the Government’s Policy for rural development which aims to deliver a range of actions to rural communities over the lifetime of the policy. It is based on a community-led approach to rural development and supports a broad range of activities which aim to respond to the diversity of the local needs of our rural areas. ...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Road Network (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme makes an important contribution to connectivity in rural Ireland. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the scheme is funded into the future. The scheme was re-introduced in 2017 following a number of...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Walks Scheme, which is funded by my Department, contracts landholders to undertake maintenance work on National Waymarked Ways and other priority trails that traverse their lands. The landholders receive modest payments for maintenance work undertaken in line with agreed work plans. In addition, my Department’s Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) provides funding for...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Flexible Work Practices (30 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Our Rural Future recognises the opportunity for rural rejuvenation that remote working presents and commits to establishing an integrated national network of 400 remote working hubs by 2025. There are already 342 hubs on-boarded to the connectedhubs.ieplatform. This number continues to grow and is on track to meet our commitment. The initial focus of the Connected Hubs initiative was on...

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

Heather Humphreys: Supports from my Department are not intended to cover circumstances where another Government Department or Agency has the primary responsibility. The responsibility for the provision of assistance to those who require transport to hospital appointments rests with the Health Service Executive (HSE). If the person concerned has exhausted all other options and can provide evidence from the HSE...

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

Heather Humphreys: Means test rules in my Department are kept under regular review and I have introduced a number of significant changes in recent years including:Providing for higher income disregards. These disregards ensure that, where people are in receipt of a social assistance payment and are working, their income from work to the level of the income disregard, is not assessed in the means test.Expanding...