Results 5,741-5,760 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I have consulted with the two relevant Ministers on this matter, namely, the Ministers for Health and Enterprise, Trade and Employment. We have received a response from both Ministers. My officials are currently considering those responses. I will meet with the Ministers in due course to discuss the issue further with them. Social welfare is only a small part of this. It is a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy knows, my Department provides a suite of income supports to those who cannot work due to illness or disability. It is important to note eligibility for these payments is generally not dependent on the type of illness or disability but the extent to which it impairs or restricts their ability to work. However, I am considering whether to include Covid-19 as a prescribed disease...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Payments (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. The programme for Government and the economic recovery plan include commitments to consider a pay-related jobseeker's benefit scheme. This would bring Ireland in line with the majority of other EU member states. The core rationale for the introduction of a pay-related benefit is twofold. First, to recognise and cushion people against the income shock that arises on...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Section 87 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 legislates for the occupational injuries benefit scheme for persons injured by an accident at work or caused by a prescribed disease due to the nature of their employment. The occupational injuries benefit scheme is a compensation and income support provided by my Department and, as Minister, I have the power to prescribe diseases under...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Redundancy Payments (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: My Department is happy to meet with the employees. We will appoint a contact person to whom the employees can speak directly. It is very difficult for people when they get word they are losing their job. It is not a nice place for anybody to be. I understand the concerns of the staff. They are worried about how they will be able to pay their bills. The team is available to help them...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Redundancy Payments (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Policy and legislative responsibilities for the redundancy and insolvency schemes fall within the remit of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment but if the Deputy has particular instances she wishes to bring to me, I am happy to have them checked out. As she stated, when a person loses his or her job, it is not a nice place to be. The employees in question are vulnerable and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: We have been working with the school meals providers. There are a number of different providers who tender through the process. We increased the rates they are paid because they had not increased in many years. The rates they receive have been increased from 1 January this year. We are in constant contact with them. I am satisfied that we can roll this out to the DEIS schools and meet...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I support absolutely the hot school meals programme. The Deputy mentioned the quality. We have a committee that monitors and checks the quality. We make sure the children receive good, healthy food and schools must reapply for funding in advance of each school year. They are required to submit detailed records. Expenditure on all healthy food items is deducted from the following...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Redundancy Payments (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: When my Department received the notification of collective redundancy from the company concerned, the employer relations division of my Department made contact with the company and provided information on income, redundancy entitlements and employment supports for their impacted employees. This communication contained a video presentation to be shared with its staff. A team from the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I take on board what Deputy McAuliffe is saying. Keeping a child in full-time education is a very expensive task. I fully understand it and I do know about it. Child benefit is one of the only tools at my disposal in the Department of Social Protection to support working families. We had the double child benefit payment in December and we will have the €100 lump sum payment on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I note the Minister, Deputy Harris, has reduced the student fees. To go back to the issue of the child benefit, I really would like to do something for those families where the child is still at secondary school. As has been said, many children are now not starting school until they are five. Then, if they do transition year, there could be some people who miss out because the child will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. I need that. I accept that child benefit is a universal payment. I acknowledge some people are against that concept. Yet, I can say as someone who worked in a credit union, there were a lot more hard-working, middle-income families who depended on child benefit than there are millionaires. Child benefit is one of the ways that I, as Minister for Social Protection,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The school meals programme provides funding towards food services for some 1,600 schools and organisations, benefiting 260,000 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 and extra...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Schemes (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this. My Department currently provides employment services for people with disabilities through 23 EmployAbility-contracted service providers across the State. My officials have commenced a procurement process to update current EmployAbility services to comply with legal advice from the Attorney General and Chief State Solicitor’s office and to meet the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Schemes (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I have very little choice here because the legal advice from the Attorney General and the Chief State Solicitor’s office is that we are in breach of procurement law and these services have to go out to tender. I want to put the Deputy’s mind at ease. I recall last year every time the Deputy’s predecessor, Deputy Kerrane, and I came in here for parliamentary questions,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Schemes (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: As I said, I spoke to one of the providers last week. He had been against it and had said it would not work and he genuinely said to me it is working. The providers have more money as well, and that is helpful in making sure they provide the service. I am meeting the chairs of every EmployAbility company on Thursday morning. I want to hear what their concerns are and how we can work...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Child benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children who are in full-time education or who have a disability until their 18th birthday. It is currently paid to more than 650,000 families in respect of more than 1.2 million children with an estimated expenditure of in excess of €2.1...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Government made a decision that 1.2 million people would receive €260 million in supports as part of the spring payments. We have taken a number of different steps to help people with the cost of living. That has included increases to weekly payments, double payments, and has also included lump-sum payments. At the end of last year, the Deputy will remember we had the double...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pensions Reform (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The State pension is the bedrock of the pension system in Ireland. It is extremely effective at ensuring that our pensioners do not experience poverty. This Government is committed to ensuring that this remains the case for current pensioners, those nearing State pension age and today’s young workers, including those who are only starting their careers. One of the landmark reforms...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pensions Reform (23 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy knows, when this Government was formed we established the Pensions Commission to look at the whole area of pensions. Countries all over the world are grappling with how to meet pension costs into the future; one only has to look at what happened in France a few weeks ago. After the Pensions Commission completed its work, I secured Government approval for a range of measures on...