Results 10,641-10,660 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a range of income supports for full-time carers including Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the Carer’s Support Grant. Combined spending on all these payments to carers in 2022 is estimated to exceed €1.5 billion. Carer's Allowance acts as an income support for those who cannot earn adequate income in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 18 February 2022. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. Those papers were received in the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The spouse of the person concerned is receiving the maximum rate Increase for Qualified Adult allowance on their State Pension (contributory) since 15th February 2018. The rate of the increase is €227.00 which equates to just under 90% of the maximum personal rate payable for State Pension (contributory). The person concerned reached pension age on 23 February 2016. No...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The system of social assistance supports provides payments based on an income need.  The means test plays a critical role in determining whether or not an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency – such as disability, unemployment or caring.  This ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted to those...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The delivery of crucial community welfare services to meet the challenges and the needs of citizens across the country remains a priority for me and my Department. It is important that the CWS remains an accessible, flexible and responsive service to meet the varied needs of vulnerable people, particularly in a time of crisis or emergency. The continued availability of locally based...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department is committed to a Community Welfare Service (CWS) that remains a flexible service to meet the varied needs of vulnerable people and the continued availability of local access to a CWO is a key feature of the service. CWOs can facilitate emergency and in-person meetings in all Intreo Centres across business hours, five days per week. Some CWOs are based in Social Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Given the ongoing recovery from the impacts of COVID, the supports provided by my Department to assist communities are more important than ever. My Department has been allocated €378 million for 2022, which will enable continued delivery of a wide range of measures to support communities and address emerging needs. Supports, which are available to eligible community groups and...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) is funded by my Department under Our Rural Futurein partnership with Fáilte Ireland. ORIS provides funding under a number of measures for the development of new outdoor recreational infrastructure and for the necessary repair, enhancement or promotion of existing outdoor recreation infrastructure in countryside areas across Ireland. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Schemes (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) is part of a range of measures to support the revitalisation of rural Ireland. The programme is funded under Project Ireland 2040 as part of Our Rural Future. In February 2022 I announced almost €18.5 million in funding for projects under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2021. I announced further funding of €850,000 in March for...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Social Media (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 887 to 889, inclusive, together. There are four agencies that operate under the remit of my Department (DRCD) as follows; - Western Development Commission (WDC), - Pobal, - Charities Regulator (CR), and - Water Safety Ireland (WSI). The table below sets out the information requested by the Deputy for the period in question in respect of my Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Ukraine War (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has not awarded any contracts in 2022 outside of the standard procurement process in order to assist the arrival of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. There are four agencies under my Department’s remit: the Western Development Commission; POBAL; Irish Water Safety; and the Charities Regulator. In respect of these bodies, information relating to this matter is for...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Contracts (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department does not employ external persons or firms to deal with public relations. My Department’s communications team deals with a wide range of internal and external communications matters, including press engagement, media events, online content and public relations.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Island Communities (10 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy is aware, the subsidised transport services to the off-shore islands do not fall under the remit of the fare reduction scheme currently being introduced by the National Transport Authority on behalf of the Department of Transport. While I am open to considering the introduction of a similar scheme for island residents, there are some concerns that applying a fare reduction for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (5 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Child Benefit is a monthly payment to the parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age.  Child Benefit can also be claimed for children aged 16 and 17, if they are in full-time education or full-time training or have a disability and cannot support themselves.   The person concerned and her child entered the State on 31/01/2022. The claim has been awarded with effect...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I am acutely aware that due to the geo-political situation, the increase in consumer prices, especially the increase in fuel and other energy prices, has exceeded even the highest forecasts. Faced with these challenging circumstances, the Government has acted quickly and decisively to introduce measures aimed at offsetting the increased cost of living for social welfare recipients. In...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In addition to payments under specific social welfare schemes, my Department does provide a number of targeted payments to help people with their household costs including Fuel Allowance, the Living Alone Allowance, Telephone Support Allowance and both Exceptional and Urgent Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (5 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Household Benefits package is comprised of the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence.  The package is generally available to people living in the State aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test.  The package is also available to some people under the age of 66, who are in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (5 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Matters related to foster caring are the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and Tusla.   More widely, this Government acknowledges the important role that carers play and is fully committed to supporting them in that role.  Accordingly, the current State Pension (Contributory) system includes a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Animal Breeding (5 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Each year my Department publishes annual statistics in respect of a range of the dog control responsibilities of local authorities, including those that relate to dog breeding establishments. This information is collated from annual returns received from all local authorities. Information up to and including 2020, by local authority and in tabular form, is available at...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Animal Breeding (5 May 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has overall policy responsibility for the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010. The Act provides a robust regulatory framework for the licensing, monitoring and inspection of dog breeding establishments by local authorities and, where a serious and immediate threat exists to public health or animal health and welfare, for the closure of such establishments. The day to day...