Results 3,821-3,840 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Research and Development (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As Minister for Rural and Community Development I attend plenary meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council, the structure through which the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive work together across six areas of cooperation, including Agriculture and Rural Development, to agree common policies and approaches for the mutual benefit of all residents of the island. While my...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Public Procurement Contracts (17 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 supports a broad range of activities which aim to respond to the diversity of the local needs of our rural areas.The process to select the Local Action Groups (LAGs) to deliver the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Grant Payments (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: This Government recognises the important role that community centres play in community life in Ireland, particularly their role in bringing people together.My Department has put in place an integrated programme of supports for the establishment and development of community centres across schemes such as CLáR, LEADER, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, and of course the new Community...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Data (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy will be aware, the sharing of data is covered by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which took effect from 25 May 2018, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019 with the commencement of final sections of that Act coming into effect in December last year. With regard to personal and or person-specific data sets, my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Data (17 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 over 1,550 projects...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Road Projects (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Local Improvement Scheme 2024 Roads Outstanding County Roads Outstanding Carlow 10 Cavan 211 Clare 129 Cork 121 Donegal 1415 Galway 77 Kerry 665 Kildare 8 Kilkenny...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 430 community-based organisations, to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager. A call for applications for additional staff support from...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: In 2019 my Department approved funding for a pilot initiative to support the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in the homes of elderly, isolated and vulnerable people throughout rural Ireland.The pilot initiative was funded through the Dormant Accounts Fund. The alarms were supplied through Muintir na Tíre groups who installed them in people’s homes on a voluntary basis. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Ardee Castle project was approved for funding of €2,147,000 under the first call for Category 1 projects to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) in 2018. The lead party for the project is Louth County Council. Given that funding was allocated some five years ago, I am disappointed with the delays in work getting underway on this important project.The project will...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Data (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The details requested by the Deputy regarding funding allocated by my Department to local authorities under rural schemes in 2023 are outlined in the attached table. The table sets out a breakdown of funding allocated to respective local authorities in 2023 in respect of the following rural schemes: Town & Village Renewal SchemeLEADERCLáRLocal Improvement Scheme (LIS)Outdoor...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Data (17 Jan 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) provides funding for the development and construction of capital projects in towns, villages and rural areas across Ireland. Funding is allocated to State-funded bodies. State-funded bodies are local authorities, Local Development Companies and other State agencies, including Commercial State bodies. To date, 215 projects have been approved...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Appointments to State Boards (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Public servants serve on the boards of the Citizens Information Board (CIB), the Pensions Authority and the Pensions Council in their capacity as ex-officio appointments and in the case of the CIB, as a staff...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age. Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged 16 and 17 if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves. An application from the person concerned has not been received. When an application is received, the claim details will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The terms and conditions of the Supplementary Pension available to retired public servants, including Gardaí, are determined under the rules of the occupational pension scheme, which is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. The Department of Social Protection has no role in determining that a retired public servant should apply for a social welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned will reach pension age on 26 January 2024. According to the records of my Department, the person concerned has not applied for State Pension (contributory). Under current eligibility conditions, an individual must have 520 full-rate paid contributions in order to qualify for standard State pension (contributory). 520 full-rate contributions equate to 10 years of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (14 Dec 2023)

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 9 and 16 November 2023,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The School Meals Programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,700 schools and organisations benefitting 300,000 children. The objective of the 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...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Consultations (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Green Paper on Disability Reform is my department’s response to our commitment under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion to develop and consult on proposals to restructure long-term disability payments and to simplify the system. The Green Paper is a consultation document. It is not a final reform design. The proposals are intended to invite discussion, debate, and suggestions...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The estimated full year cost of increasing all weekly social welfare payments by €1 is set out in the table below. It should be noted that costs include proportionate increases for qualified adults and for those on reduced rates of payment, where relevant. Scheme €1 Increase €m Social Insurance Schemes ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (14 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The estimated additional cost of a double Child Benefit payment month in 2024 is €180.5 million, per double payment month. This would be in addition to the current estimated expenditure of €2,166.1 million on Child Benefit in 2024. This costing is based on the estimated number of recipients in 2024, and is subject to change in light of emerging trends and subsequent revision...