Results 941-960 of 14,252 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (19 Feb 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. The Hot School Meal programme is a subset of the wider School Meals Programme and is available to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office 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 table below shows a breakdown of average processing times for the period 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024 on a number of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (19 Feb 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 Expenditure (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Department has a robust governance process in place to assure the proper control of expenditure. Aside from standard operating costs related to the day to day delivery of welfare and employment schemes and services the Department's capital development programmes fall into two categories - accommodation and facilities which are managed and accounted for by the Office of Public Works,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (19 Feb 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: School Meals Programme (19 Feb 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: Budget 2025 (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Social Protection package of €2.6 billion announced under Budget 2025 was the largest in the history of the State and was designed to assist recipients of Social Protection payments through a mix of cost of living bonus payments and increases to weekly payment rates. The once-off bonus payments that were announced as part of Budget 2025 are as follows: Budget...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Department of Social Protection provides income supports through a mixture of contributory payments (which are based on a person's social insurance record) and means-tested social assistance payments. To receive either a contributory or social assistance payment a person must qualify for that payment in their own right.The State Pension (Contributory) requires 520 (equivalent to 10 years)...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Working Family Payment (WFP), formerly Family Income Supplement, is a weekly in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment the customer must have at least 1 qualified child who normally resides with them and be working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight in ongoing insurable employment. An application...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned reached pension age on 11 March 2013. The State Pension (contributory) was awarded from this date plus an Increase for a qualified adult allowance in respect of their spouse. Where a qualified adult has weekly means of less than €100, the maximum rate of the Increase for Qualified Adult (IQA) allowance is payable. Where their weekly means are over...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Flexible Work Practices (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department is supportive of blended working and was one of the first to introduce a blended working policy. This Policy, developed in line with the Blended Working Policy Framework for Civil Service Organizations, offers a varied attendance model, depending on the staff role and business needs. The ability to effectively meet the needs of each business area and ensuring...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: International Protection (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 142 and 145 together. 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 or from other personal and household resources. The statistical reporting for Additional Needs Payments was revised in 2022 and 2023, to extract more...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: International Protection (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly in-work support which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. To qualify for Working Family Payment, the customer must have at least one qualified child who normally resides with them and be working a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight in ongoing insurable employment. The Department does not keep a record of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Wage Subsidy Scheme is a key disability employment support for employers. It aims to encourage employers to employ people with disabilities in the open labour market through a subsidy. To currently qualify for the scheme, the employee must be in employment for fewer than 12 months. This requirement aims to encourage employers to take on new employees with a disability. In August 2024, my...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Feb 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 a continued entitlement. In this case the means of the person concerned were reviewed in line with DA eligibility. On 27th February 2024,...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The second iteration of the Community Recognition Fund is being delivered over three tranches so as allow flexibility at a local level to respond to new emerging priorities. Last August, €16.5 million was approved to deliver 185 community projects across the country under the first tranche of the 2024 fund. I expect to announce the successful projects under the second tranche...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: In June last year, a new round of funding was announced to support community groups to upgrade and refurbish the community facilities in their areas. The Community Centre Investment Fund 2024 will provide funding of between €10,000 and €100,000 towards capital costs for the refurbishment of existing community centres. Last November, in excess of €7.6 million was...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Expenditure (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: In general, the projects supported my Department are not undertaken or commissioned by the Department itself, but are delivered by entities including local authorities, local development companies and community groups. With regard to those projects which have been directly undertaken or commissioned by my Department over the period in question, none have had overspends of the scale indicated....

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Social Enterprise Sector (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I am advised that Pobal, which administers the Community Services Programme (CSP) on behalf of my Department, has been engaging directly with the named organisation relating to ongoing financial challenges. The organisation is registered to participate in the ESF+ Achieve Together Mentoring and Coaching Programme, which provides a 12-month tailored coaching, mentoring and supports...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (19 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Local Improvement Scheme supports works on non-public rural roads and laneways not usually maintained by local authorities. While my Department outlines the terms and conditions for the Scheme each year, it is administered locally by each local authority who select and prioritise roads for inclusion in the Scheme In advance of the Scheme opening each year, the terms and conditions of...