Results 9,641-9,660 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start school each autumn. To qualify for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, a person must be in receipt of certain social protection payments or taking part in training, employment or adult education...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Ukraine War (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In accordance with the Temporary Protection Directive implemented in March 2022, people fleeing the war in Ukraine have been granted status to avail of the supports and services provided by my Department. In engaging with people arriving from Ukraine, the Department's initial priority is the allocation of PPSNs and the provision of immediate financial supports. A fast-track approach in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

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, which is supporting over 370,000 households in 2022, at an estimated cost of €366 million. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The weekly rate of the Fuel Allowance payment has increased 8 times since its...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn.  The scheme operates from June to September each year. This year, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment has been increased by €100 for the 2022 scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Enterprise Support Services (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) scheme offers financial support for people who are long term unemployed and who are interested in self-employment as a route to entering the labour market.  The scheme plays a vital role in supporting the development of new enterprises for the long term unemployed and is paid for a 24-month period from the commencement of their new...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn.  The scheme operates from June to September each year. The allowance is payable in respect of eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified child...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Dental Services (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Treatment Benefit is a PRSI-based scheme which provides free dental and optical services, and assistance towards the provision of audiological appliances and hair replacement products, to people who satisfy certain qualifying conditions, and to their dependent spouses/partners. The Dental Benefit Scheme is a popular scheme with 893,000 claims paid by the Department in 2021 at a cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Income supports for family carers provided by my Department include Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit, the Carer's Support Grant and Domiciliary Care Allowance.  Spending on these supports in 2022 is expected to be over €1.5 billion. Carer’s Allowance is the primary scheme through which my Department supports carers in the community.  Carer’s Allowance is a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has, since 2019, been developing a new model of externally provided public employment services.  This is a legal requirement to ensure such services are procured through a competitive open procurement process. Since the beginning of this process in 2019, my Department has engaged extensively with existing providers and representative bodies, including the Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Reviews (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In line with the Programme for Government commitment, the Government established a Child Maintenance Review Group to examine certain issues in relation to child maintenance in Ireland.  The Group was chaired by former Circuit Court Judge Catherine Murphy and included legal, policy and academic professionals as well as officials from my Department and the Department of Justice. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Pensions Commission’s Report was published on the 7th October 2021.  It contained almost 250 pages of analysis, consideration and recommendations.  The report established that the current State Pension system is not sustainable into the future and it has set out a recommended approach for Government. In the interests both of older people and future generations of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn.  The scheme operates from June to September.    The allowance is payable for eligible children between the ages of 4 and 17 in respect of whom a qualified...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Government is acutely aware of recent price increases and their impact on low income households and those who are dependent on social welfare.  For this reason, this Government did not await a further budget cycle to address these challenges but acted early.  Overall, the tax and spending measures we have introduced to ease the burden and provide support to those most in need...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Irish labour market has experienced a robust recovery, post-Covid. According to the latest CSO estimates, employment is now above 2.5 million, the highest level in the history of the State; the unemployment rate is now below its pre-pandemic level at 4.7 percent. Furthermore, participation rates in the economy continue to be above where they stood pre-pandemic. My Department, which...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 introduced two weeks of paid Parent's Leave for each parent to be taken in the first year after the birth or adoptive placement of a child. Following the commencement of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021, an additional three weeks of paid Parent's Leave is available to each parent, and the period in which the leave can be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I received the Pre-Budget Submission from the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, which was produced on foot of a significant  consultation and engagement with interested stakeholders. I was very grateful for the time and effort taken by the Deputy and the Committee in producing this report and in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Social welfare legislation provides that, for social assistance schemes, income and capital (such as savings, investments and property other than the family home) belonging to the claimant and his or her partner, where applicable, is assessable for means assessment purposes.  The purpose of the means assessment is to maintain the policy of ensuring that social welfare expenditure is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Irish labour market has experienced a robust recovery, post-Covid. According to the latest estimates from the CSO’s Labour Force Survey (Q1, 2022), the number of people in employment is now above 2.5 million, the highest level in the history of the State, while participation rates in the economy continue to be above where they stood pre-pandemic, driven primarily by the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Indecon report found that there is not a single typical ‘cost of disability’; rather there is a spectrum from low additional costs to extremely high extra costs of disability, depending on the individual circumstances of the person concerned.  The additional costs of disability identified by Indecon run across a number of areas of expenditure including: housing,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Schemes (14 Jul 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department is engaged in a process, since 2019, of reviewing and expanding public employment services across the State.  It has had well in excess of over 140 engagements with the community sector during this process.  My officials have also engaged with and met the trade unions SIPTU and Forsa to hear their concerns regarding the interests of their members who are employed in...