Results 4,741-4,760 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 19...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned will reach 66 years of age in 2029. 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 full-rate insurable employment. On assessing entitlement to pension factors such as an individual’s social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Local Government Reform (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: There are no functions of my Department devolved as a result of the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Nor do I have plans to devolve functions from my Department to local government in the medium term.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The National Fuel Scheme applies to persons in receipt of long-term Social Welfare payments who satisfy a means condition and who are living alone or who only with the persons who come within certain categories. An application for Fuel Allowance (FA) was received from the person concerned on 31 August 2023. Her application was initially refused as the information then available to my...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 378 and 379 together. 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 severe weather events under the humanitarian assistance scheme. The humanitarian assistance scheme, administered by the local Community...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: My Department currently provides employment services for people with disabilities through 23 EmployAbility contracted service providers across the State. Up to now all contracts for the EmployAbility Service were issued for a single 12 month period and rolled-over on an annual basis. My officials are undertaking a procurement process to update current EmployAbility services in order to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Government acknowledges the important 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. Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested payment, made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and providing full-time care and attention to a child or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (24 Oct 2023)

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. The table below contains the number of recipients of CA whose payment has been reviewed in the last five years. Totals...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The table below shows the number of state pension non-contributory recipients over the past 5 years, the number of control reviews undertaken and the number of reviews which resulted in a pension termination. Number of Recipients (year-end) Number of Control Reviews Undertaken Number of Control Reviews Which Resulted in Claim Termination 30...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The social welfare system is a State financial support for people who need assistance to cover a range of contingencies that may arise including unemployment, illness, etc. Entitlement to social welfare benefit payments are contingent on a person's PRSI contributions. Where a person does not qualify for a benefit payment, they may be eligible for a means tested payment to cover the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: As part of Budget 2024, I secured a €2.3 billion Social Protection package. This is, for the second year in a row, the largest in the history of the State. This package provides a mixture of exceptional cost of living payments delivered over the coming weeks, along with an across the board €12 weekly rate increase in primary payments, including both benefits and means assessed...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Budget 2024 (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Government is keenly aware of issues in relation to child poverty, and these issues have formed a critical input into the development of the Budget 2024 package; and at €2.3 billion it delivered the largest social welfare Budget package in the history of the State. I provided for weekly rate increases in all social welfare primary payments of €12 per week and the weekly...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly allowance payable to a parent/guardian in respect of a child aged under 16, who has a severe disability and requires continual or continuous care and attention in the home, that is substantially over and above the level of care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and the child must be likely to require this level of care for at...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Medical Cards (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Following consultation with the Deputy's office it is understood that the question seeks the description of the dental benefits available under both my Department’s Treatment Benefit scheme and under my colleague the Minister’s for Health’s GMS system. For information relating to the GMS system, I would ask the Deputy to forward his query to my colleague the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Budget 2024 (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly in-work support which provides an income support for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment, the customer must be working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight in ongoing insurable employment and have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them. Budget 2024 included the provision of a once off...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: State pension non-contributory is a means-tested payment for people aged 66 and over, habitually residing in the State, who do not qualify for a state pension contributory, or who only qualify for a reduced rate contributory pension based on their social insurance record. In order to satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition, as a first step, it must be established that the person has an...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Library Projects (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The provision of library services, including the provision of library buildings, is primarily a matter for local authorities in their capacity as library authorities under the Local Government Act 2001. Accordingly, progress on the works in Ballaghaderreen Library, and the timeline for completing the project are, first and foremost, a matter for Roscommon County Council. In response to...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The CLÁR programme provides funding for small-scale projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population over a defined period. Since the programme was relaunched in 2016, it has supported over 2,100 projects with funding of over €59 million. This funding is making a real difference in many of our smaller and more remote communities. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: WiFi4EU is an initiative funded by the European Commission and co-funded in Ireland by my Department. The initiative aims to support the development of wireless broadband by providing a high-quality internet service, free of charge, in public spaces such as main streets, public parks, libraries, museums, and other public areas of high footfall. Under the WiFi4EU scheme, local authorities...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Budget 2024 (24 Oct 2023)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a range of supports which are available to Women’s Sheds, depending on the works being completed. The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) has provided supports to 59 Women’s Sheds, for example in facilitating training courses and holding focus groups. To date the programme also awarded small grants totalling over €9,000...