Results 6,421-6,440 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Government has done a great deal to assist people with disabilities. Last November, for example, I announced a disability support grant of €500. This was welcomed by the Disability Federation of Ireland. We had the carer's support grant, but the disability support grant was a new concept. From 1 January, domiciliary care allowance increased by €20.50 to €330 per...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: When issues with Catherine's Law were brought to my attention, I changed it. We have done a list of things. I have given the Deputy the date of mid-May for the straw-man proposal to be published. It will then have to go out to consultation. We will need to give that consultation time to take place. A great deal of work is going into this proposal. My officials work hard on putting such...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The development and provision of services and policies to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities operates through a cross-government framework with other Departments, agencies and, importantly, disability sector representatives. The disability awareness support scheme provides a contribution towards cost-of-disability awareness training for private sector employers....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this. First, we did not close the branch office. Branch offices are privately run small offices that, in the main, accept and validate applications for jobseeker and one-parent family payments and then pass them on to the Department's national processing team for processing and payment. They can also provide public service card registrations and act as...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I told the Deputy the position. That is not true.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: First, and I would like the Deputy to listen to this, I did not close this office. It was being run by a branch manager on a contract. Unfortunately, he got sick, he had to retire and that is why the office closed. My Department acted quickly to put alternative arrangements in place to serve the people of Castlepollard. We keep this under review on an ongoing basis but we have to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy is talking nonsense.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: My record, in terms of the investment that has gone into rural Ireland through the Rural Regeneration Fund and, indeed, a plethora of other funds, is second to none. We are supporting the Castlepollard regeneration project with a grant of €3.8million. The project will have additional match funding from Westmeath County Council. It will bring the total amount of investment in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The purpose of a straw man is it is a rough outline, you can change it and consultation will lead to changes based on what the views are on the ground. The development of a straw man is based on a commitment under the roadmap for social inclusion to develop and consult on a straw-man proposal for the restructuring of long-term disability payments. The straw man also intends to simplify the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Job Creation (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy knows, JobPath is being wound down. No new referrals are being made but existing participants are being allowed to finish their engagements, which is fair enough. With regard to a review, we already did a comprehensive review in conjunction with the OECD back in 2019. As the Deputy well knows, we have been through the findings many times before. In short, the OECD found that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Job Creation (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: As I said, we have been through this on a number of occasions. The Deputy has one view and I have a set of figures. JobPath is a mechanism through which support is provided to long-term unemployed jobseekers through access to employment assistance and advice for a period of 12 months. It follows a payment-by-results model and is associated with day-to-day operational costs. The risks were...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Job Creation (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy will be aware, referrals to the JobPath service have now ceased and the service is in a run-off phase, with only clients referred up to June 2022 remaining engaged with the service. Research into JobPath, including by the OECD, indicates that the programme led to positive employment and earnings outcomes across a variety of hard-to-reach groups. As part of a restructuring...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a range of income supports for those who are unable to work due to illness or disability. I introduced a number of measures as part of Budget 2023 to support disabled people to mitigate the impacts of the rising cost of living. These were a combination of once-off payments and increases to the rate of weekly income support payments and income thresholds. In October...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a means tested payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €412 million in 2023. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household. It is incorrect to say that the Fuel Allowance is not available to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €412 million in 2023. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household. The Fuel Allowance is paid to social welfare recipients such as pensioners,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I fully recognise the challenges the increased the cost of living has brought to many people and families. That is why, in September, I announced the largest social protection Budget package in the history of the State - comprising measures worth almost €2.2 billion. This included eight separate cost of living lump sum payments paid in Quarter 4 last year to ease the pressure that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Farm Assist is a statutory income support specifically for farmers on low-incomes. A person can qualify for Farm Assist if they are aged 18 to 66 and engaged in farming and meet the other statutory scheme conditions. The Farm Assist Scheme is similar to Jobseeker’s Allowance in a number of ways, such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Nursing Homes (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Non-contributory pension is a payment to people over 66 whose entitlements is based on a means test. All means tests in my Department are kept under regular review and a number of significant changes have been made in recent years. Last year I announced a series of measures designed to remove barriers facing social welfare customers who choose to accommodate people in their homes. In...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income. An application may be made under the scheme for assistance with payment of a rent deposit and, if required, assistance can also be provided with rent in advance. A Community Welfare Officer will work with a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (28 Mar 2023)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of my Department which is independent in its decision making functions. My Department processes around two million new claims each year. About 85% of these are successful, in that the customer receives the relevant payment. By comparison, 25,093 appeals were made to the Social Welfare Appeals Office in 2022 and 24,267 appeals were finalised. ...