Results 21-40 of 2,213 for long speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (15 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...Domiciliary Care Allowance ceases to be payable when a child reaches 16 years of age. The young person can then apply for Disability Allowance if they meet the eligibility requirements. Disability Allowance is a long-term disability payment which is subject to a means test, medical assessment, and a habitual residency requirement. One of the key proposals in the Green Paper on...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (14 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...experience to make a positive economic and social contribution to local communities. The project will also develop an interpretation framework to develop a visitor experience and an enhanced trail standard for long distant trails.Funding of €226,490 for the "Beara Breifne Way" project and the "Beara Way" project under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme. The scheme...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Schemes (9 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I was reared in a lane that is nearly a mile long. I know all about these lanes, and I have to say that nobody has been more committed to providing LIS funding than me. At the end of each year, if I had any extra money I lorried it into the LIS because I know how important the latter is to support people who live in rural Ireland. Since 2017, €170 million has been invested in the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Island Communities (9 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: To go back to Deputy Connolly's question, we have waited a long time for the islands policy. The purpose of the monitoring committee is to ensure that the specific measures in the Our Living Islands policy and its associated action plan are put in place and acted on by the relevant Government Departments and agencies. The committee has a role to play. If it is not being acted upon, that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tidy Towns (9 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...recognise that this is a very busy time of the year for the Tidy Towns committees and everyone is putting their best foot forward. They want to make their town or village more attractive. For as long as I have been involved in politics, there has been a debate around posters. Personally, I would not lose any sleep if no posters were put up, but I recognise that first-time candidates...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Development Projects (9 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...", as I am considering another round of funding. This is an issue that the Deputy has raised with me several times. Sports capital grants are successful and popular and have been on the go for a long time, but we had no dedicated fund for community centres. During Covid, we saw how they did not have the same opportunities to raise money. Like a house, if you do not keep doing bits...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (9 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...My Department has also recently recruited a staff member on the Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP). This is a Department of Social Protection initiative which gives people who have been long term unemployed a chance to gain work experience. However, while my Department has offices located in Ballina, Dublin and Na Forbacha (Galway), it has no offices in County Meath.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Recreation Policy (9 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...of interest in the sector. Under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund, I have also approved €300,000 for a Category 2 project led by Fáilte Ireland for the Beara-Breifne Way. The Beara-Breifne Way is a long-distance walking and cycling trail being developed from the Beara Peninsula in Cork, to Blacklion in Cavan. This project will develop plans for the trail quality and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Long-Term Carers Contributions make it easier for a carer to qualify for the State Pension Contributory. Any period in which a carer is registered as providing full time care to an incapacitated person can be included in their social insurance (PRSI) record. Once a carer has reached a minimum of 1040 weeks (20 years) of Long-Term Carers Contributions, these contributions will be included in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...in undertaking work which would otherwise be suitable having regard to the person’s age, experience and qualifications. It is open for the person concerned to apply for this payment. Long-Term Carers Contribution Periods make it easier for a carer to qualify for the State Pension (Contributory) when they reach pension age. Any period in which a person is registered as providing...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...Care Allowance. These credits and other measures may be used to increase the rate of State Pension (Contributory) payment subject to certain conditions. Despite these measures, some long-term carers of incapacitated dependents may still face barriers in accessing the State Pension (Contributory). They may, for example, have difficulty establishing the minimum number of 10 years of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...pupils doing transition year, there has been an increase in the number of 18-year-olds still in secondary education. I believe the extension of Child Benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education is a long-term change for the better and will support families across Ireland into the future. I trust this clarifies the position for the deputy.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...in line with an age-based default strategy that will benefit from compounding growth in the early years of the investment lifecycle while reducing risk as the individual participant nears retirement. As I have said previously, long life is a blessing, not a burden. Implementation of AE will help workers maintain a good standard of living after their long years of working in paid...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...is the approach in Australia, which does not allow people to opt out at all. Those are the extremes. We said we would look at it. The period of mandatory participation needs to be sufficiently long that people can see the fund build up. People will see after six months how much they have - the sum of how much they have paid in themselves, the top-up and their employer's contribution....

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...else. It will then invest it on behalf of those members. Its focus is entirely on the members of the scheme. To give this task to the NTMA would be to add something very new to its long list of existing functions. The Government is of the view that auto-enrolment is so important that it needs to have a dedicated expert function and therefore, it has chosen to establish this new...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee Stage (8 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...to do. I have the same concerns around the appropriateness and workability of amendment No. 22. Turning to amendment No. 19, I will point out that the setting of a definition of the best long-term interests of participants cannot be easily measured. In terms of what constitutes the best possible health of the environment and society in which the participants live, none of us really...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Policies (2 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: In November 2023, I published and laid a report before the Oireachtas entitled ‘Report on measures to include long COVID in the Occupational Injuries Benefit Regulations’. This report concluded that COVID-19 does not satisfy the criteria for recognition as an occupational illness or an accident at work under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. Specifically,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (2 May 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...people who have been caring for incapacitated dependents for over 20 years (1040 weeks). If the person concerned has been caring for incapacitated dependents for over 20 years, she can apply for Long-Term Carers Contributions (LTCC). If the criteria are met, the equivalent of paid contributions may be attributed to cover gaps in her contribution record. The periods of care-giving do not...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Leave (30 Apr 2024)

Heather Humphreys: ...people who leave the workforce to care for someone in need of full-time care and attention. It is payable for a maximum period of 104 weeks for each person being cared for. It can be taken in one block or in separate periods as long as the combined total does not exceed 104 weeks. A person may be eligible providing they meet the qualifying conditions, including whether they have sufficient...