Results 621-640 of 16,746 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Disability Allowance (DA) is my Department's primary disability related social assistance scheme. DA is a means-tested payment for people with a disability who are aged between 16 and 66. In order to be eligible, the disability must be expected to last for at least one year. The allowance is also subject to a means test, a medical assessment and a habitual residency requirement. I can...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rural Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is an income support scheme that provides part-time employment opportunities for low-income farmers and fishers in receipt of specified social welfare payments, and who are underemployed in their primary occupation. As the Deputy is aware, the RSS review was published on 24 July 2024 to examine the role of the scheme, its ongoing relevance to the changing...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department established an Interdepartmental Working Group with the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, to examine and review the entire system of means test for carers' payments. This included the Carer's Allowance payment. The group has concluded its work, and the report from the group has been submitted to me. I will consider the findings of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: At the end of June 2025 there were 48,770 persons in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance for more than 12 months. Of these almost 44,000 had a new or existing referral to employment supports or training courses during the previous 12 months. Not only is employment crucial to our economy and society, but it is also vital to individual well-being, not just in the financial sense but in terms...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Weather Events (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS) was activated nationally on the morning of Friday, 24 January 2025 in response to Storm Éowyn. Community Welfare Officers from the Department were in place instantly to respond to the immediate needs of affected households. The deadline for submitting HAS 1 applications was 25 April 2025. The majority of payments made to people to date as a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1327, 1339, 1340 and 1352 together. This Government acknowledges the important role that carers, including foster carers, play and remains fully committed to supporting them. That is why I was really pleased to announce extending eligibility for the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance to children for whom Foster Care Allowance is being paid on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Birth Certificates (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1328, 1329, 1333 and 1353 together. The registers containing information on the birth details of all children born in the State are maintained by the General Register Office (GRO), which operates under the aegis of my Department. Birth Certificates containing the records of any person in the register of births are obtainable under Section 61 of the Civil...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Tús is a community work placement initiative which aims to provide short-term work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. The focus of Tús is on jobseekers that are unemployed for twelve months or more, and the targeted activation of this cohort aims to provide additional assistance and a renewed impetus to these jobseekers who could otherwise be in danger...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Seasonal workers wishing to avail of income support while unemployed may qualify for a jobseeker's payment providing all the qualifying conditions are met, including being available for full-time work and genuinely seeking work. Like all other jobseeker's, seasonal workers are required to complete the necessary jobseeker forms and supply any documentation that may be required in support of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I hope the Deputy will appreciate that all defined benefit (DB) schemes are different, with their own trust deeds and scheme rules, and my Department would have no role in or knowledge of the historical pension vesting rules which may have applied under individual schemes. Scheme trustees have duties and responsibilities under trust law, under the Pensions Act 1990, as amended, and under...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned is currently in receipt of an Invalidity Pension. There is a general principle of one person, one payment, which applies across the social welfare system. Given the contingency-based nature of this system, it can happen that a person may experience more than one contingency at the same time but, generally, they can receive only one payment. This principle is common to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Jobseeker's Allowance is a means-tested payment for unemployed people. Among the qualifying conditions for this scheme is that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking full-time work. The use of means tests in the social welfare system is a method of targeting scarce resources to those with an identified financial need. Removal of the means test for Jobseeker’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: To qualify for the Fuel Allowance payment a person must satisfy all the relevant qualifying criteria including satisfying a means test. The means test ensures that the Fuel Allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Following their successful appeal, the person concerned has been awarded Disability Allowance (DA) with effect from 27 November 2024. They were notified in writing of this appeal decision on 12 August 2025. The first payment was made by their chosen payment method on 03 September 2025. Arrears of payment due from 27 November 2024 to 02 September 2025 will issue as soon as possible, once...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Disability Allowance (DA) is a means-tested payment for people with a specified disability whose income falls below certain limits and who are aged between 16 and are under 66. The Department periodically reviews claims in payment to ensure that there is continued entitlement. In this case the means of the person concerned were reviewed Under the means assessment arrangements for DA,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1341 and 1348 together. Illness benefit is the primary short term income support provided by my Department to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance. Eligibility for illness benefit depends on the person’s PRSI record and class. People must have made the required number of contributions under...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 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 provides full-time care and attention to a child or adult with a disability that requires such a level of care. An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 1 August 2025. As part of the decision process, the application was referred...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: Child Benefit is a universal payment to all families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment now continues to be paid in respect of children until their 19th birthday where they are in full-time education or have a disability, a measure which was taken in Budget 2024 in order to provide continued financial assistance to parents under these conditions. Child Benefit is paid to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Flexible Work Practices (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Citizens Information Board funds twenty-two service delivery companies. This includes eight Citizens Information Services, the Citizens Information Phone Service, eight Money Advice and Budgeting Service companies, National Traveller MABS, MABS Support, the National Advocacy Service and the Sign Language and Interpreting Service which are companies limited by guarantee and have charitable...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (8 Sep 2025)

Dara Calleary: In order to keep the employer PRSI class A threshold in line with a national minimum wage increase of €1.35 from the current rate of €13.50 per hour to €14.85 per hour, the threshold would need to increase from €527 to €580 per week. This would ensure that employers with full time (39 hours per week) employees earning that level of national minimum wage...