Results 601-620 of 14,252 for speaker:Dara Calleary

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

Dara Calleary: Under the law as currently enacted, entitlement to a Widows, Widowers or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory pension is only available to a surviving partner who was party to a marriage or civil partnership. As the Deputy is aware, on 22nd January 2024, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the entitlement of an unmarried cohabitant to a Widower's Contributory Pension. The...

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

Dara Calleary: The Household Benefits Package comprises of an Electricity or Gas allowance and a Free Television Licence. Only one Household Benefits Package is payable per household. The payment is made on a monthly basis. The Package is generally available to people living in the State aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. It is also...

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

Dara Calleary: Fuel Allowance is a means-tested payment to help with the cost of heating a home during the winter months, payable to people who either live alone or with certain other qualified people. An application for Fuel Allowance was received from the person concerned on 17 December 2024. The application was assessed by a Deciding Officer. The claim was disallowed as the person concerned did not...

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

Dara Calleary: The purpose of the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, which is administered by my department through the local Community Welfare Service, is to provide financial support to people whose homes are damaged and 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...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is committed to ensuring that only those people who are eligible receive welfare and other payments. Our overriding objective is to ensure that we pay the right people, the right amount, through the right scheme/programme, at the right time. All schemes, including Carers Allowance, are subject to periodic control reviews and continuing eligibility checks to ensure that...

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. My Department is committed to ensuring that only those people who are eligible receive welfare and other payments....

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. When eligibility has been established for CA and claims are in payment, my Department undertakes periodic reviews of CA...

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. An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 1 November 2024. As part of the decision process, the...

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

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1074 and 1075 together. 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...

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 local Community Welfare Service, was activated on the 23rd January 2025 to assist householders affected across the country by Storm Éowyn. Up to 13th March 2025, just under 22,900 claims have been awarded with a total of over €5.2 million being paid in respect of Storm Éowyn related claims. The...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all of its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Eligibility for DCA is not based entirely on the child's disability or diagnosis, but primarily on the impact of the disability/diagnosis in terms of the associated care and attention...

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 only....

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

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1079 to 1081, inclusive, together. Section 7 of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 (GRA 2015) provides that the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection commences a review of the Act within 2 years of its coming into operation, and thereafter, to report to the Oireachtas within 12 months of the commencement of the review. The report of the Review...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is not in a position to provide the estimated amount of both employer PRSI contributions and employee PRSI contributions owed to the Social Insurance Fund, by company size.

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. Stage 1 of the HAS scheme provides emergency support payments to cover food and other essential costs in the immediate...

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

Dara Calleary: My Department is currently examining the potential future use of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) technologies. This has involved active participation in several stakeholder groups, such as, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's working group on the implementation of EU AI Act. An A.I. Chatbot on the MyGovID platform is currently in use, providing real-time advice to customers...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Sector Staff (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: Public sector sick leave policies are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.

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

Dara Calleary: The Carer's Allowance is the main scheme by which my department provides income support to carers in the community. Carer's Allowance is a means tested social assistance payment awarded to those carers who are caring for certain people whose disability is such that they require full-time care and attention. The two principal conditions for receipt of Carer's Allowance are that full time...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: The CLÁR Programme provides funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation over a defined period. The Programme for Government makes a commitment to carry out a comprehensive review of the eligibility criteria of CLÁR within 6 months with a view to expanding...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Animal Welfare (19 Mar 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department has policy responsibility for the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010. The Dog Breeding Establishments Act provides a regulatory framework for the licensing, monitoring and inspection of dog breeding establishments by local authorities and, where a serious and immediate threat exists to public health or animal health and welfare, for the closure of such establishments. Local...