Results 921-940 of 14,437 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Go raibh maith ag an Teachta agus tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go seasaimid le daoine faoi mhíchumas agus is rud an-tábhachtach don Rialtas nua é go mbeidh athruithe sa chuidiú sa Roinn Coimirce Sóisialaí do dhaoine atá faoi mhíchumas. My Department already provides a range of income and employment supports to people with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy. This is a key priority for the Government. The Taoiseach convened a meeting on Monday to discuss support across government for people with disabilities. About seven Ministers were present at that meeting. The Department of Social Protection commissioned Indecon to research issues around the cost of disability. Indecon's report was published in 2021. It identified...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Offices (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The social welfare appeals office is responsible for considering and determining appeals of first-instance decisions of the Department's deciding officers in relation to people's social welfare entitlements. The appeals service is designed to provide free-of-cost access to a second opinion by an officer at a senior grade within the Department....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Offices (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The backlogs are a matter of concern to me. That is why there has, as stated, been a lot of investment in additional appeals officers. A new IT system went live in November 2023. This facilitates an online capability to provide a more efficient and streamlined service for people who are making appeals. At end of 2024, a new update provided functionality on mywelfare.ie for people to make...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Offices (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: For context, the average time taken to process an appeal in 2024 was 23.5 weeks. That jumped from 16 weeks in 2023. The average processing time for an appeal dealt with summarily in 2024 was 24.5 weeks, which, again, was an increase on 2023. As of 31 January last, the current processing times for social welfare appeals is 19.4 weeks. We are beginning to make progress. I will be very...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I take this opportunity to officially congratulate the Deputy on his election. Spending on income supports for carers by the Department of Social Protection is expected to amount to over €1.9 billion this year. The carer’s allowance scheme is the main scheme by means of which my Department provides income support to carers in the community. In 2025, the expenditure on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I assure the Deputy that we will continue the work of recent Governments in terms of supporting the work of carers, which we feel is very important. We have already discussed this morning the increases in the income disregard, the weekly increase to carer's allowance and carer's benefit and the increase in the carer's support grant. Since January, the carer's allowance is now included as...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I absolutely acknowledge the work of carers, which we see at first hand, and that is why it is also important we acknowledge the extent of the improvements the previous Government brought in for carers over recent years. We introduced the long-term carer's contribution scheme in January 2024, which allows a person who has been a full-time carer for an incapacitated dependant for 20 years or...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Absolutely. Carers' work is extraordinary and there is also the benefit of having somebody remain at home. Leaving aside the financial sides of things, having somebody remain at home is much better for their long-term recovery and long-term living. In the context of budgetary discussions, we will review all the figures. I will engage with the carers' organisations but also with the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Grant Payments (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis as a bheith tofa agus ar a leanbh nua i gCill Dara. Comhghairdeas leis féin agus lena bhean chéile agus guím gach rath orthu. A newborn baby grant of €280 was announced in last year's budget to be paid to families of babies born on or after 1 December 2024. This grant is paid alongside, but in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Grant Payments (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy. As I look around, I think that, apart from the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I am the longest serving Deputy in this House, and on every day of those 18 years, I have heard references to trying to make ours a family-friendly Oireachtas, although we seem to be going further away from that. Even so, a lot of work has been done in respect of parental leave for Members of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: No one has an exclusive concern for carers. The last Government did a great deal of work in increasing the income disregard and the carer’s support grant. I intend to engage with all the carers organisations around that. I am very focused on the work they do and the burden they face on a daily basis. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that we will phase out the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy and congratulate him on his election. I look forward to working with him. In November 2023, the Department of Social Protection published a report on the inclusion of long Covid in the occupational injuries benefit regulations. This report concluded that Covid-19 did not satisfy the statutory criteria for recognition as an occupational illness or accident at work....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: My own Department has 78 people in receipt of illness benefit with a Covid-related certification. Covid-related claims account for 0.6% of all illness benefit claims that were awarded so far this year. As well as illness benefit, my Department provides an invalidity pension and a disability allowance scheme for those who cannot work due to an illness or disability. That includes those who...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The temporary scheme of paid leave for public health service employees was identified in the report my Department published in November 2023 as the appropriate channel to target specific supports for employees in our health services. That scheme is being dealt with by the Minister for public expenditure. He has extended it. I will bring the Deputy’s concerns to him about its future...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy and congratulate him and welcome him back to the House. Carer’s allowance is an important income support for people who have caring responsibilities. That is clear from the fact that there are nearly 99,000 people in receipt of the payment and expenditure on the scheme in 2025 is estimated to be over €1.24 billion. In common with other welfare payments...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Widow's Pension (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I do not have that specific figure but I will seek to provide it to the Deputy. The analysis carried out by my Department anticipates that there will be 500 new cohabitant recipients expected annually in the initial years, with an annualised cost of approximately €50 million. It is difficult to predict those numbers with certainty. It is the Department's intention, once we have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Widow's Pension (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I do not want to create an expectation that the Department will not be able to meet. While I understand where people are at, our hands our tied to the 22 January 2024 judgment date. However, there are other supports that we may be in a position to make available to families in this situation and we will look at those. However, in relation to the specific payment and backdating, I am...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The carer’s allowance is the main scheme by which my Department provides income support to carers in the community. There are currently 98,311 people in receipt of carer's allowance. Expenditure on the scheme in 2025 is estimated at over €1.24 billion. The primary objective of the carer's allowance payment is to provide an income support to people whose earning capacity is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (27 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: We have been clear that we will increase the income disregards for carer's allowance in each budget. It is our intention to phase out the means test during the lifetime of this Government. We were clear on that in the programme for Government and I am clear on it as Minister for Social Protection. I value the work of carers, which is incredibly important, but I would be wrong to say we...