Results 6,301-6,320 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Guardian's Payment (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Guardians Payments scheme, first introduced in 1936, was originally called orphan’s payment. It was renamed guardian’s payment in July 2006, in recognition of the fact that the original remit of the scheme had been extended to include certain children who had not lost both parents through bereavement. There are two Guardians Payment schemes: Guardian’s payment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Guardian's Payment (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: One of the roles of the Department is to provide income support to families with children in the State. Guardian’s payment (contributory) and guardian’s payment (non-contributory) are, respectively, social insurance and social assistance (means-tested) payments made to a person caring for a child, where that child is defined as an orphan under social welfare legislation. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Administration (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Under the National Recovery Plan 2011 – 2014 funding for the Free Travel Scheme was frozen at €77m per annum, equivalent to the levels of expenditure on the scheme in 2010. Prior to this cap on expenditure the rate of payment to operators participating in the scheme was reviewed regularly and adjusted on the basis of changes in rates of fares. Funding for the scheme was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 209 and 219 together. My Department provides a number of options for income support to lone parents once their entitlement to the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) ceases. These include the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (JST) payment where the youngest child is aged 7-13 years (inclusive) and the Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) payment which may...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to almost 628,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The full year cost of increasing the reduced personal weekly rates for those aged 66 and over in receipt of the State Pension Contributory and the Widow/er's and Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension to the maximum weekly rate of €243.30 is estimated at c. €333 million in 2019. This cost includes proportionate increases for qualified adults, where applicable. It does...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to more than 631,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department's maternity benefit scheme is payable for 26 weeks and paternity benefit for 2 weeks. The 2018 Estimates provides for expenditure of approximately €264 million on Maternity Benefit and €16 million on paternity benefit. The estimated weekly cost of extending the duration of maternity and paternity benefit, based on 2019 estimated average weekly recipients, is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Ireland has opted in to the EU (recast) Reception Conditions Directive with effect from 30 June 2018. As a result, direct provision allowance is being renamed daily expenses allowance. The Government has provided over €5.6 million for the allowance in 2018. This is paid to applicants for international protection who live in the direct provision system where they are provided with full...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The estimated full-year cost of increasing the monthly rate of Child Benefit by €5, from €140 per month to €145 per month, is €73.29 million. It should be noted that this costing is subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients for 2019.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I understand the Deputy to be referring to the income disregard applying to these payments, rather than the payments themselves. Based on the income data for existing customers on one parent family payments and jobseekers transition payments, the estimated cost of increasing the income disregard for the one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transitional payment for this cohort from...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The policy goal of the changes to the OFP scheme were to tackle long-term social welfare dependency - and its associated poverty risks - through a tapering of income supports and a more active engagement process offering enhanced educational, training and employment supports. My Department continues to provide a range of options for income support to lone parents once their entitlement...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: In the case of One Parent Family payment (OFP), the earnings data necessary to enable a reliable calculation is not available to the Department, as claimants with earnings above the €425 threshold will have exited the scheme and the Department will have no sight of their numbers or earnings. Insofar as the jobseekers transitional (JST) payment is concerned there is no specific...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 27,400 recipients for which the Government has provided €180 million for in 2018. Rent supplement is a statutory means tested scheme, payable at differentiated rates of payment according to the applicant’s means and accommodation requirements, and is normally...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an oral hearing of the appeal of the person concerned took place on 22nd August 2018 and that the Appeals Officer is now considering the appeal in the light of all of the evidence submitted, including that adduced at the oral hearing. The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision when the appeal has been...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Fuel allowance is a means-tested payment to assist householders on long-term social welfare payments towards the cost of their heating needs. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. One allowance is payable per household. Those participating on work schemes such as Community Employment (CE) are entitled to Fuel Allowance if they fulfil the conditions for receipt of same. CE...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 27 weeks (a total of €607.50 each year) from October to April, to over 368,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €227 million in 2018. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme Data (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The Government has provided €49.5 million for the scheme in 2018 which operates from June to September. BSCFA, unlike most other means assessed schemes, is not subject to the habitual residence...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobsPlus Scheme (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is advised that the employers’ PRSI exemption scheme was replaced by the JobsPlus Scheme on 1 July 2013. JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees who are long-term on the live register and transitioning into employment. It provides employers with two levels of payment: €7,500 and €10,000. The €7,500 is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (27 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 27 weeks (a total of €607.50 each year) from October to April, to over 368,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €227 million in 2018. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It...