Results 5,981-6,000 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: -----before the end of this week.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this. I agree with Deputy Bacik. The scenes in Dublin at the weekend were horrific. Burning people out of their tents are the actions of people who do not represent the vast majority of people in this country. The Deputy was absolutely correct when she said that there is an onus on every single one of us in this House to condemn these actions unreservedly. ...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: We have been clear; there cannot be profiteering on the back of hard-pressed Irish shoppers. I absolutely agree with the Deputy on that. We cannot have that. Nothing is off the table. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is considering a suite of measures, for example, more transparency on profits in Ireland, and is meeting with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, which has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I agree with her first point, that is, food prices have increased. Any person doing his or her weekly shop can see that clearly. I can see it myself. I was in a shop only yesterday and could see where the price of many products had increased, such as for example, nappy wipes. The consumer is looking for special offers but there are not as many...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: -----we will give a €100 bonus payment to every child on child benefit. This will be on top of the double child benefit that we paid last December. The Government is supporting working families. We are trying to put money back into the pockets, which is why we cut the income tax rate in January.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I am getting around to that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I just want to make clear what we are doing to help people address the increase in the cost of living. There is a broad range of measures across the board. We have been trying to help people. We understand their concerns. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, got the retailers into a room and met them. Since then, we have suddenly started hearing that some supermarkets are cutting their...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Some have cut the price of bread.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Some have cut the price of butter. We want to see more of that. On top of that-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputies might laugh, but a woman or a grandmother like me knows why someone buys nappy wipes. It is because people need them if they have small children. The women who will get the extra €100-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: -----next month in their child benefit payments might appreciate it, so do not be laughing at that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: On top of that, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, is meeting the CCPC to discuss the retail sector. The Deputy knows we cannot set prices. Like last year, everyone wanted to scaremonger about the price of petrol and diesel, but their prices are back down now. This situation can be cyclical. However, we agree with the Deputy that the cost of living has...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their eighteenth birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Estimated expenditure on the scheme will be approximately €2.1 billion in 2023. There are currently no plans to extend Child Benefit in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and habitual residency conditions. The number of DA applications registered and awarded, and the number of these who were...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions. When making a decision, Deciding Officers (DO) are bound by the Social Welfare Acts and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (16 May 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 that the question under appeal in this case is whether, at the date of claim, the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (16 May 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. I confirm that my Department received an application for Carer’s Allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 3...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Department of Social Protection operates its contract for cash payment services with An Post. The Department and An Post agreed a protocol in 2014, which was renewed in 2019, governing the forms of identification which claimants, or their agents, must produce in order to collect payments. There has been no change in this agreed protocol or in the forms of identification required of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 442, 443 and 444 together. One of my statutory functions as Minister for Social Protection is the authentication of a person's identity in the manner described, and for the purposes set out, in primary legislation. Under that legislation, a person must authenticate their identity as one of the conditions of their right to any social welfare payment. Once a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (16 May 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Indecon report highlighted that the ‘Cost of Disability’ is significantly wider than the income support system and found that there is not a single typical ‘cost of disability’; rather there is a spectrum from low additional costs to extremely high extra costs of disability, depending on the individual circumstances of the person concerned. Additional costs of...