Results 11,201-11,220 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Deputy Hourigan has posed a question I cannot answer. I do not think it is a part of my Department, but I will check and respond directly to the Deputy later.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: It is under the remit of the Citizens Information Board, CIB, and that is a part of my Department. We also have the National Advocacy Service, NAS, to advocate for people with disabilities and that also comes under the CIB. I know that because I met representatives of the organisation only recently. Its role is to advocate and it does much good work in that space, under the auspices of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: When people arrive here, my Department is ensuring that we have a one-stop shop in Dublin Airport, as well as other facilities in Limerick, Cork and Dublin and Rosslare. We work closely with the Department of Justice on this issue. It provides refugees with temporary visas, and then we immediately give them personal public service numbers. Once they have those, refugees get supplementary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Senator. The focus of my Department has to be, and has always been, to provide an income support - a basic income - to help people when they need it. That is the number one focus of this Department. It is not a service support. Services come from other Departments. I know the point that the Senator is making, but a change to individualisation would be a fundamental change to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Senator. First, I do not know whether she was here for all of my contribution, but I have said a number of times this morning that we need to empower people. The Department wants to give people who have disabilities the opportunity to participate fully in society but also to empower them. The most important way by which anybody is empowered is to have the opportunity to go to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: We do not a figure for this cost because we do not individualise the cost of assessing these applications.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: We have a team of staff who assess all of the applications when they come in. It is all included in our staff costs. I do not have a breakdown as to what apportionment is to a specific duty. I apologise but that is the best I can give on the answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Perhaps I am misunderstanding the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Senator for her comments. She mentioned the cost of disability and the report. What is clear from the report is that the cost of disability is significantly broader than income supports. It is clear that it will not be addressed through income support alone. A basic standard income support for all people with disabilities is unlikely to address the costs incurred by those most...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Standard of Living and Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (24 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: I want to be clear. I am outlining what we have done in the Department, but I never said that is enough. In response to Deputy Cairns, we want to do more. I am certainly not sitting here, saying we are doing a great job; I am telling her what we have done. We increased it from €20,000 to €50,000. I think that is progress and I want to see more progress. In response to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: On 4 March 2022, the Council of the European Union unanimously adopted the implementing decision regarding the Temporary Protection Directive, due to the mass influx of persons fleeing Ukraine as a consequence of the war. This means that persons to whom the Directive applies will be able to work in Ireland and to access social services and the full range of social welfare supports including...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) Scheme was made available to employees and self- employed people who had lost their employment due to the effects of the Covid pandemic. It has proven to be a vital income support to workers, thousands of whom lost their jobs virtually overnight. In line with the standard practice applying to all jobseeker payments, my Department undertook a number...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Since the lifting of the restrictions on the 28/02/22, the Medical Review and Assessment Service of the Department has planned to resume in-person assessments which are scheduled for the week starting 21/03/2022. During the pandemic, my Department continued to service the customers of Disablement Benefit Scheme by conducting Desk Assessments where appropriate. I hope this clarifies the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In Budget 2022, I introduced a new measure that will provide a flat grant of up to €500 a year for eligible individuals towards the cost of non-surgical hair replacement including wigs. The grant will be available from 28 May 2022 under the Treatment Benefit scheme. The Treatment Benefit Scheme is a social insurance scheme and eligibility is based on age and social insurance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Programmes (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The Activation and Family Support Programme (AFSP) enables my Department to assist local organisations and agencies to implement projects addressing the needs of recipients of welfare payments and their families, to provide progression routes into education, training and employment. The application of the funding is largely responsive to demand identified by local organisations who apply...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The table below shows Child Benefit expenditure and average recipient numbers for the years 2017 - 2021. Year Expenditure €000 Average Recipient Numbers 2017 2,086,390 623,170 2018 2,096,671 626,240 2019 2,102,436 629,760 2020 2,102,328 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has a commitment to the provision of interpretation and translations services under its Customer Charter and Action plan. The provision of these services assists customers in the conduct of their business with the Department. The table below sets out the total cost of engagements with Word Perfect Translation Services LTD from 2011 to 2022 for the provision of translation and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: Officials from the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment have been working together to coordinate the Government response. In addition, officials from my Department have been in ongoing contact with the Receiver for Roadbridge since Saturday the 12th of March 2022. While the statutory 30-day period under the 1977 Act must be adhered to,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: In Budget 2022, my Department announced an estimate of €23.35 billion for 2022 which was based on emerging trends as the country moved on from Covid-19 restrictions which had been in place for much of the previous two years. When compared to the 2021 provisional outturn figure for my Department, this estimate included increases such as: - €274.3 million for jobseekers to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (23 Mar 2022)

Heather Humphreys: The number of claims awaiting a decision at the 28th February 2022 for each scheme, for which operational data is available, are show in tabular form below. Scheme Claims awaiting a decision as of 28th February 2022 State Pension (Contributory) 4,767 Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension 393 State Pension...