Results 21-40 of 17,274 for are speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I have considered this issue but I do not want to be in the position where we are subsidising employers to give people fewer hours either. I want to be conscious of that and we have looked at many different ways to incentivise people to get back to full-time work because that is where we want them. I know this is an issue and it is certainly something we have looked at. I will look at it...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...of work representing people with long Covid. He has highlighted the issue on many occasions. I too have met people in my constituency office who told me they still feel the effects of Covid and are unable to do the same things physically they could before they had it. There are a number of existing schemes people can avail of such as illness benefit or disability allowance. Some people...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...be promoted more; I accept that. To be fair to the Department of Social Protection, it is good at telling people the options available to them when it replies to them. We will make sure they are aware of the partial capacity payment. It can be paid for a longer period of up to three years, so they should look into it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Code (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Government acknowledges the valuable role 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. My Department provides a comprehensive package of carers’ income supports including carer’s allowance, carer’s benefit, domiciliary care...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...by that Minister a number of times, most recently to June 2025. My Department continues to provide a suite of income supports to those who cannot work due to illness or disability. These supports are available to people with Covid-19 and long Covid. Eligibility for these payments is generally not dependent on the type of illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...two main payment options for its customers, payment in cash at post offices or payment directly into customer accounts by electronic fund transfer. Last year, approximately 70% of all Social Welfare payments were made by electronic fund transfer and 29.5% were by cash collection at post offices. A relatively small number of payments were also made by cheque. Where possible, customers are...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: International Protection (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...the Daily Expenses Allowance on behalf of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The allowance is paid to International Protection applicants who live in or are on a waiting list to move into accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Services. The weekly rate is €38.80 for an adult and €29.80 for a child. This is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Budget 2025 (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: There are two primary social welfare supports available from my Department which are specifically for one parent families. These are the One Parent Family Payment and the Jobseeker's Transitional Payment. Lone parents may be eligible for other payments such as the Working Family Payment Back to Work Family Dividend and the Back to School Clothing and Footwear scheme. The Budget 2024...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Programme for Government (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...and I am pleased to say that significant progress has been made on their implementation. The following is a summary of progress on the key commitments: The last two successive social welfare Budget packages have been the largest in the history of the State with €2.2 and €2.3 billion invested in protecting the most vulnerable; Budget 2024 made a lone parent with two young...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 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: Budget 2025 (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I am fully committed to making the case for a fair budget that protects the people most in need in our society - particularly families on low incomes and those people, including pensioners and carers, who are dependent on social protection payments. No decisions have been made in terms of the composition of next year's Budget. As part of Budget 2024, I secured a €2.3 billion Social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...customers. People over the age of 70 receive the Household Benefits Package, with one package provided per household. The package is also available to people living in the State aged 66-69 years who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments or who satisfy a means test. The package is available to some people under the age of 66 who are in receipt of certain welfare type...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Community Welfare Service is committed to providing a quality service to all citizens, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. It is a key service providing Basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance payments, Additional Needs Payments, Rent and other supplement applications. Approximately 16,900 claims handled during the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...scheme or the means tested Jobseeker's Allowance scheme. In circumstances where full-time work is not available, these schemes provide that a person can work up to 3 days per week where they are fully unemployed for at least four in any seven consecutive days. Currently, almost 21,000 people working on a part-time basis are in receipt of a jobseeker’s payment. The jobseekers...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers, ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made in a timely manner. My Department understands the pressures faced by people and always seeks to ensure that claims are processed quickly and efficiently. The processing time for individual Disability Allowance (DA) claims may vary...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Persons who have been overpaid social welfare have a liability to refund the overpayment as they have been in receipt of a payment to which they were not entitled. In 2023 the total value of overpayments - as a percentage of total scheme expenditure was approximately 0.48%. The table below sets out the number of overpayments raised and the associated value of those cases where an element of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Citizens Information Services (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As you will be aware, the Citizens Information Service (CIS) comprises of eight regional companies that are funded by the Citizens Information Board (CIB), the statutory body funded by my Department. The Citizens Information Phone Service (CIPS) is also funded by CIB. As I have stated on many occasions, I absolutely acknowledge and value the important information, advice and advocacy...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Poverty (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Government is keenly aware of issues in relation to child poverty, and these formed a critical input into the development of Budget 2024 which included a social welfare package of almost €2.3 billion. The Budget measures are progressive and proportionately benefit those in lower income quintiles most. It is important that this momentum is maintained for Budget 2025. Child Benefit...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Parental Leave (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Parent’s Benefit is a payment for employed people, who are on Parent’s Leave from work, and self-employed people who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions. Parent's Leave and Benefit are available to all eligible parents of children born or adopted from 1 November 2019 and must be availed of within the first two years of the child’s life or adoption....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...was €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a couple. In addition, for people aged 70 or over, the amount of capital that is disregarded was increased from €20,000 to €50,000. Savings over €50,000 are assessed on a proportionate basis only. The weekly means threshold for those aged under 70 was increased by €80 to €200 above the...