Results 581-600 of 14,252 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned reached pension age on 24 January 2025. An application for State Pension (contributory) was received on 5 November 2024. Under current eligibility conditions, an individual must have 520 full-rate contributions paid in the State to qualify for standard State Pension (contributory). 520 full-rate contributions equates to 10 years of full-rate insurable employment. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: This government is committed to improving outcomes for disabled people and recognise that they can face significant additional costs in their daily lives. As a result, Budget 2025 brought forward an extensive range of cost of living measures to support people with disabilities. These included cost of living lump sum payments, bonus double payments, increases to the maximum personal rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS), administered by my department through the Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn. Humanitarian assistance is available in three stages. Stage 1 of the HAS is available to people while they are directly impacted by the storm. It targets people who...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, administered by my department through the Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn. Humanitarian assistance is available in three stages. Stage 1 of the HAS is available to people while they are directly impacted by the storm. It targets people who need...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: 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. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The criteria for Fuel Allowance are in place to direct the limited resources available to my department in as targeted a manner as possible. To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment aged over 66 a person must satisfy all the qualifying criteria including satisfy a means test and the household composition criteria. This ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment goes to those who are more...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: Supports under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS) are available under 3 separate stages. I refer to person’s application for HAS stage 1 following Storm Éowyn. The HAS stage 1 is in place to address immediate hardship in the aftermath of the storm and provides emergency support payments to cover food and other essential costs in the immediate aftermath of the event...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age. Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged 16,17 and 18, if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves. A Child Benefit claim was received from the claimant on 13 December 2024. This was 26 months after the legislative...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1050 to 1052, inclusive, 1054 and 1063 together. The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, administered by my department through the local Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn. Firstly, I want to assure the Deputy that no instruction has been given to staff...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Training Support Grant is designed to fund quick access to short-term training that can support individual jobseekers to access work opportunities. The Government has provided €2.5 million for the scheme in 2025. Rather than providing for a specified qualifying period, the grant can be provided when an Employment Personal Adviser or Job Coach considers it appropriate to do so...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS), administered by my department through the Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn. Humanitarian assistance is available in three stages. Stage 1 of the HAS is available to people while they are directly impacted by the storm. It targets people who need...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is a monthly payment for a child aged under 16 with a severe disability who requires continual or continuous care and attention substantially over and above the care and attention usually required by a child of the same age. The child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 months. The Department does not collate the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: Board members of the the bodies under the aegis of my Department holding professional accounting qualifications Citizens Information Board Year Number of Board members with a professional accounting qualification 2020 1 2021 1 2022 2 2023 1 2024 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The State bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Neither the Chairpersons of the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority nor the Pensions Council have identified any skills gap in correspondence to the Department or Minister in respect of the composition...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The State bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal. I can confirm that the membership of the Audit and Risk Committees of both the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Authority have had at least one member with recent and relevant financial experience for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The State bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal. I can confirm that the boards of the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Authority have had terms of reference in place for each year from 2020 to 2025. The Pensions Council has Rules of Procedure (similar to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The purpose of the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS) is to provide financial support in the aftermath of severe weather events to people who are not able to meet costs for essential needs, household items and, in some instances, structural repair. This includes emergency support payments under Stage 1 of the scheme for items such as essential food and clothing in the immediate aftermath...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: 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. Under Social Welfare legislation, CA for the care of a care recipient who is aged less than 16 years can only be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. From May 2024, the payment was extended and now it continues to be paid in respect of children until their nineteenth birthday where they are in full-time education, or have a disability. Estimated expenditure on the scheme will be approximately €2.2 billion in 2025. Families on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Government is very aware of the key role that family carers play in Irish society and the challenges they face. We are fully committed to supporting carers in that role. The Programme for Government has set out a timeline which commits to significantly increasing the income disregards for Carer’s Allowance in each Budget with a view to phasing out the means test during the...