Results 841-860 of 16,746 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Carer’s Allowance is a means-tested payment for people living in Ireland who are looking after someone who needs support because of age, physical or learning disability or illness, including mental illness. The primary objective of the Carer’s Allowance payment is to provide an income support to carers whose earning capacity is substantially reduced as a consequence of their...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department and its Agencies pay travel and subsistence expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for Departmental business. The table below outlines the travel and subsistence expenditure incurred by the Department and its Agencies analysed by each of the years requested. Total Travel and Subsistence 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 to date ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: A State pension non-contributory application was received from the person concerned on 4 March 2025. Following an investigation by a Social Welfare Inspector, a Deciding Officer disallowed the application as the person concerned failed to fully disclose their means. On 14 May 2025, the person was notified of the decision, and their right to request a review of the decision or to appeal the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: For the period in question my Department has published reserved contracts on two occasions. There is currently one contract in place which was published in accordance with Article 20 of DIRECTIVE 2014/24/EU on public procurement which reserves the tendering procedures for companies that promote the integration of disadvantaged persons. This gives organisations whose main aim is the social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1835 and 1836 together. Social Welfare Legislation provides that the means test takes account of the income and assets of the person (and spouse/partner if applicable) applying to the relevant scheme. While properties other than a person’s principal residence are assessable for means purposes for DA, a person's home is not assessed as capital. From...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Invalidity Pension (IP) is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and for no other reason and who satisfy the pay related social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions. My Department received an application for IP from the person concerned on 13 June 2025. Based on the information supplied, it was refused on the grounds that the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The concept of mandatory preservation of pension benefits was first introduced when the Pensions Act 1990 ("1990 Act") was enacted. Prior to the introduction of the 1990 Act, a person with a number of years’ service could, depending on the rules of the scheme, not have had any entitlement to preserved benefits (or ‘vested pension rights’) and pension contributions may,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1839 to 1842, inclusive, together. My department established an interdepartmental working group, which includes the Department of Health, the Department of Education and Youth, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, to oversee and make recommendations on the operation of the School Meals Programme. I...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Capital Expenditure Programme (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Department of Social Protection does not provide direct capital funding or grants to sporting organisations as these fall under the remit of a different government department.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Capital Expenditure Programme (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Department of Social Protection provides grants to hundreds of bodies and community organisations including through for example, Community Employment Schemes, Tús (community work placement initiative) and the Rural Social Scheme. These schemes provide support to hundreds of organisations across the country and thousands of participants as key supported employment programmes. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The objective of the School Meals Programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. In Budget 2025, it was announced that the Hot School Meals Scheme will be extended to all remaining...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Communications (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: Under the social security arrangements between Ireland and the United Kingdom, the respective authorities exchange social insurance record details for long- and short-term benefit claims. If a UK social insurance record is required, a request is sent via an electronic platform used across EU/EEA/UK, that has been approved for the transfer of social insurance records. Requests...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Consultations (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: This is not within the remit of my Department. However a comprehensive report into this topic was published in 2024. The main issues relate to tax, PRSI and skills recognition. This 2024 report was commissioned for the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) which is under the remit of the Department of An Taoiseach. There was also a report compiled by the ESRI and funded by the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: In August 2023, my Department published a review of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and Disability Awareness Support Scheme. The report gave nine recommendations to merge the two schemes into a single, flexible scheme and to expand and improve the supports offered under the new scheme. In July 2024, the new Work and Access scheme was launched. Work and Access offers seven supports to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Wage Subsidy Scheme is a key disability employment support. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to people with disabilities through a subsidy. As of June 2025, there are 2,508 employees supported through the scheme and 1,524 employers availing of the scheme. Last year, my Department published a review of the Wage Subsidy Scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department is committed to working to remove barriers to employment for people with disabilities. Intreo Employment Service (ES) provide a wide range of supports to assist jobseekers, including those with a disability, to find work. Intreo ES also provides recruitment advice and support for employers including information on recruitment and retention incentives. Intreo ES offer a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is a service 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 current average processing time for appeals that have been processed up to end of Quarter 2 2025 is 21.9 weeks. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: A person who does not have a year long term contract may avail of social protection payments while they are temporarily laid-off during holiday periods. In the majority of cases Jobseekers is the appropriate payment. A jobseeker’s payment is paid for days of unemployment for which the person is not being remunerated by their employer. Receipt of any holiday pay entitlement during...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Programme for Government has set out a timeline which commits to significantly increasing the income disregards for Carer’s Allowance in each Budget with a view to phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the Government. This is a major change to the Carer's Allowance and to the Irish social welfare system generally. It is important that we make progress in a way that is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Jul 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Department has over 90 schemes of which a significant number are means-tested schemes, each with its own means test. The following list outlines primary schemes which are subject, in addition to a range of other scheme rules, to a means assessment : - Jobseeker's Allowance - Jobseeker's Transitional Payment - Disability Allowance - Farm Assist - State Pension...