Results 10,881-10,900 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a wide range of illness, disability and caring related payments.  Expenditure on Carer's Allowance amounted to over €930 million in 2021, and expenditure was over €47 million on Carer’s Benefit.  The projected expenditure on Carer’s Allowance in 2022 is approximately €990 million, and €48 million on Carer’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Where a parent needs to take time off work because their child is off school due to Covid-19 they can ask their employer for paid leave.  Employers may be flexible in assisting employees with care arrangements.  This could include offering paid compassionate leave, allowing a person to work from home or altering their shift pattern where possible. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to allow the appeal of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Energy Usage (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department and its agencies are part of the Public Sector Energy Reporting Programme run by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and use the online national energy monitoring and reporting (M&R) system to report annual energy performance data. According to the most recent SEAI Annual Report 2021 on Public Sector Energy Efficiency Performance, as at end-2020, an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance scheme is a means tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs.  The payment is a contribution towards heating costs; it is not intended to meet these costs in full.  The payment is made at the weekly rate of €33.00; or if...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Redundancy Payments Act 1967, as amended, provides for the making of payments by employers to employees in respect of redundancy.  It is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy payments to all eligible employees.  If an employer is unable to pay due to financial difficulties, an application for payment from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) may be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Jobseeker's Allowance (JA) is a means tested payment for people who are unable to obtain full time employment and satisfy the schemes qualifying conditions.  Social welfare legislation provides that where a person aged under 25 year of age claims Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) or Supplementary Welfare Allowance and is living with a parent or step-parent in the family home, an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1049 and 1050 together. The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from October to April, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022.  The purpose of this payment is to assist qualifying households with their energy costs.  The allowance represents a contribution towards...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Funding (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Department provided funding to Mayo County Council in respect of the urban school meals scheme and Community Employment.  The urban school meals scheme is for primary schools only.  It is operated and administered by the local authorities and is part-financed by this department. The Department of Social Protection keeps all aspects of its employment and activation programmes...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Department currently has 58 Branch Offices at various locations throughout the country.  Each contracted Branch Office is operated and managed under a contract for services, by a Branch Manager who is required to act as an agent for the Department in the area served by the office.  Branch Office Managers operate on a contract for service and are independent contractors. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Department currently has 58 Branch Offices at various locations throughout the country.  Each contracted Branch Office is operated and managed under a contract for services, by a Branch Manager who is required to act as an agent for the Department in the area served by the office.  Branch Office Managers operate on a contract for service and are independent contractors. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Department currently has 58 Branch Offices at various locations throughout the country.  Each contracted Branch Office is operated and managed under a contract for services, by a Branch Manager who is required to act as an agent for the Department in the area served by the office.  Branch Office Managers operate on a contract for service and are independent contractors. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability.  It is important to note that entitlement to these supports is generally not contingent on the nature of the illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work.  Against that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years.  The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability.  Child Benefit is currently paid to over 631,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children with an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The European Union has put in place a Temporary Protection Directive to allow Ukrainian citizens and others fleeing Ukraine to move through the EU akin to EU citizens.  This Department is providing support and services to assist people covered by this Directive who are fleeing Ukraine and who arrive in Ireland.  As the situation is evolving, the Government will, of course, keep all...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The State Pension (Contributory) is a PRSI-based pension, financed by contributions made by current workers and their employers, and paid to pensioners, at a rate based upon their PRSI record when working.  A person is required to have a minimum of 520 paid reckonable PRSI contributions in order to qualify for the State Pension (Contributory).  As the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Subject to the standard qualifying conditions for State Pension (Contributory) also being satisfied, the State Pension system already provides significant recognition to those whose work history includes an extended period of time outside the paid workplace, often to raise families or in a full-time caring role. This is provided through the award of Credits, the application of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Illness Benefit is paid for a maximum of 2 years or 624 payable days.  The person concerned exhausted his entitlement to Illness Benefit from the 22nd February 2022.  A letter issued on 23rd November 2021 advising him that his entitlement was due to end from this date and provided details of the options available to him when this transpired.   When...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33.00 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from October to April, at an estimated cost of €366 million in 2022.  The purpose of this payment is to assist qualifying households with their energy costs.  The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household.  It is not intended to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Reviews (26 Apr 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Parent's Leave and Benefit is currently available to all eligible parents of children born or adopted from 1 November 2019 for five weeks and must be used within the first two years of the child’s life or adoption. Provision was made in Budget 2022 to increase the number of weeks of Parent's Leave and Benefit available to eligible parents from five weeks to seven weeks from July...