Results 501-520 of 16,691 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Following a competitive procurement process, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was appointed the managed service provider to operate the administration of My Future Fund. TCS will work under contract to administer My Future Fund on behalf of the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), which is in the process of being established as a statutorily independent body. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Future Fund, the automatic enrolment retirement savings system being launched in January 2026, will be subject to a level of oversight and public scrutiny that surpasses any other retirement savings or pension arrangement in the State. My Future Fund will be governed by the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024. It will be facilitated, administered and regulated by a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The objective of the School Meals 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 and extra educational achievement. The School Meals Programme is not mandatory for schools. The decision to apply lies with the school...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Below is a table detailing the number of Disability Allowance claims decided and the number and percentage of Disability Allowance claims refused for the period January to August 2025. Month Total Decisions Disallowed % of Claims Disallowed Jan 3,557 1,839 52% Feb 2,789 1,398 50% ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: A person, including a child, who is visually impaired and who meets the medical conditions for Blind Pension, or alternatively is registered as blind with Vision Ireland or the League of the Blind of Ireland, can qualify for a Free Travel Companion pass. A Free Travel Companion pass entitles the holder to have any one person, aged 16 years or over, to accompany him/her free of charge when...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the average processing time for appeals that have been processed up to end of Quarter 2 2025 is 21.9 weeks. The average processing time for appeals during 2024 was 23.5 weeks. The breakdown for each social welfare payment during 2024 will be available in the Social Welfare Appeals Office Annual Report which is currently being...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Statutory Instruments (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department is responsible for the legislation underpinning the social welfare code, occupational and private pensions, civil registration, gender recognition, and the Citizens Information Board/Comhairle. The details of the Statutory Instruments signed by the Minister for Social Protection in 2024 and 2025 are set out below. Secondary Legislation - Regulations and Orders made by the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned reached pension age on 5 April 2013. In order to qualify for state pension (contributory) an individual must have 520 full-rate paid contributions which equates to 10 years of full-rate insurable employment. According to the records of my Department, the person concerned has a total of 441 full-rate contributions which falls short of the requisite 520 full-rate...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 776 and 779 together. The objective of the School Meals 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 and extra educational achievement. In Budget 2025, it was announced that the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Department of Education with the support of the Interdepartmental Working Group on School Meals, recently finalised the procurement documentation for the Hot School Meals Programme, the use of which will be a mandatory requirement for all schools for participation in the programme. As advised by my Department in July, where schools have an existing contract with a supplier, these...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The objective of the School Meals 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 and extra educational achievement. The programme is designed so that meals are provided by contracted food business operators, with the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Under the School Meals Programme, the primary relationship is between the school and supplier. My department provides the funding for the meals directly to the school and it is the responsibility of each school board to administer the Programme in their school including handling the procurement process. The Schools Procurement Unit, under the Department of Education, provides guidance to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The objective of the School Meals 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 and extra educational achievement. Under the Hot School Meals Scheme, parents can choose food for their child every week from an approved...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: My department has an oversight role in relation to the School Meals Programme and conducts regular inspections of schools which includes reviewing the menu. Under the existing audit process, some 400 schools are inspected onsite annually by my department. In total, 121 desk assessments were carried out in 2024. This represents a 20% total check on schools. For 2025, 400 schools will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 783 and 784 together. My department established an interdepartmental working group, which includes the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Youth, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, to oversee and make recommendations on the operation of the School Meals Programme. I have...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Age-related rates apply to 18 to 24 year olds in receipt of the means-tested Jobseeker's Allowance scheme and are designed to prevent long-term welfare dependency. Age-related reduced rates do not apply to all young jobseekers and some exceptions are applied including those with qualified children or where they are living independently of the family home and are in receipt of state housing...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The average processing times for appeals at the end of Quarter 2, 2025 was 21.9 weeks. The Chief Appeals Officer, at the end of last year put in place measures to deal with the increase in appeals received during 2024, including assigning an additional 20 Appeals Officers to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. In addition, new Social Welfare Appeals Regulations (S.I. No. 744 of 2024) came...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the average processing time for appeals during 2024 was 23.5 weeks. The average processing time during 2023 was 16 weeks. The breakdown of processing times for each social welfare scheme for 2023 are available in the published 2023 Annual Report. The breakdown of processing times for each social welfare scheme for 2024 will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is committed to providing an independent, accessible and fair appeals service in a prompt and courteous manner. Social Welfare Appeals Officers are appointed to determine appeals and be independent in their decision-making. This means they must decide each case based on social welfare legislation and the individual facts before them. The current statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming and streamlining the appeals process in recent years. An Appeals Modernisation Project to develop and implement new business processes was completed in Q 1 2025. The purpose of the project was to streamline and enhance the end-to-end appeals process for the customer,...