Results 12,581-12,600 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputies for highlighting the issue. The average time to award carer's allowance after receipt of application in 2021 is four weeks, as compared with seven weeks in 2020 and 12 weeks in 2019. The average time to award carer's benefit after receipt of application in 2021 is four weeks, as compared with five weeks in 2020 and 12 weeks in 2019. Therefore, we are making good...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Insurance (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 67 together. The current position is that any paid employment after a person’s 66th birthday is not reckonable for contributory State pension purposes, nor is the employment liable to any PRSI contributions. The Government established the Commission on Pensions in November 2020 to examine the sustainability of the State pension system and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Insurance (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The issues the Deputy mentioned are among those the Commission on Pensions considered. It has set out comprehensive and far-reaching recommendations. All the recommendations were unanimously agreed by the commission, with the exception of the increase in the State pension age. The member nominated by ICTU disagreed with this. The recommendations can be broken into three broad interrelated...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Insurance (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Government is committed to bringing the recommendations in the report of the Commission on Pensions to the Government. I will bring a response and recommended implementation plan to government by the end of March 2022. I am also progressing the issue of auto-enrolment, another aspect we have committed to introducing during the term of this Government. Much work can be done to improve...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to takes Questions Nos. 11, 68, 98 and 101 together. My Department provides a comprehensive set of income supports for carers. These include carer's allowance, carer's benefit, domiciliary care allowance and the carer's support grant. Through these schemes over 135,000 carers are supported by regular income payments. Spending in 2021 on these payments is expected to be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: One of my priorities since I became Minister for Social Protection is to do whatever I can to support our carers. I know very well the huge work they do and the contribution they make to our society. As I said, in last year's budget I increased the carers support grant to €1,850, the highest level ever. This year, there is an increase of €5 in the carers allowance, as well as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I want to thank Deputies. Many have raised issues with me and I have been able to make changes in the budget this year. It is important that we support carers. We have been doing that and will continue to do so. Family carers and the Care Alliance have warmly welcomed the changes we announced in budget 2022. I accept that there is more work to be done. I will continue to work with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Aids and Appliances (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputy Higgins for raising this issue. The treatment benefit scheme is available to insured workers, the self-employed and retired people who have the required number of PRSI contributions. It is also available to their dependent spouse or partner, if applicable. Those who are eligible can avail of dental, optical and hearing services under the scheme. As part of budget 2022, I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Aids and Appliances (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As I said, this is an issue that has been raised with me. It is something that is particularly hard for women. Some people who lose their hair due to chemotherapy may be able to get support for the cost of a wig if they have a medical card. People with alopecia have no automatic entitlement to a medical card. Alopecia can often be a lifelong condition and at present there is no support to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Aids and Appliances (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I acknowledge the great work carried out by the volunteers in Alopecia Ireland. This is something they have called for, in particular, for people in alopecia. They do much good work to support people. Some people may decide, for whatever reason, that they do not want or need a wig. For those who need one, I want to help them. That is what the grant is about. It is a support for working...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I appreciate the point the Deputy is making. I have a friend with epilepsy. They are off the road at the minute. As the Deputy said, if someone loses their licence due to a seizure caused by epilepsy, it really is awful for them and I understand that. The problem I have, which the Department officials have clearly pointed out to me, is that the free travel pass is very much based on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputies. I fully appreciate what they are saying. They make a good case and I understand it. I intend to meet with Epilepsy Ireland to discuss its proposal in detail. The group wrote to me about much of what the Deputies are saying. I am not going to make any promises because it would be wrong of me to do that but I will meet Epilepsy Ireland and hear what it has to say. We...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Question Nos. 9, 16 and 53 together. The carer income supports provided by my Department include carer's allowance, carer's benefit, domiciliary care allowance, and the carer's support grant. More than 135,000 carers are supported by regular income payments and spending on these in 2021 is expected to be in the region of €1.5 billion. As part of budget 2022,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are currently approximately 1,012,000 customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2021 is €95 million. It is important to note that, in general, access to free travel...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: No.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I understand the Deputy's concerns. I reassure her that I have done everything I can to ensure the importance of social value and community linkages are reflected in the procurement process. We have engaged extensively with the Irish Local Development Network, ILDN, yet we hear that some of its members seem not to have received the information that we have given. The one issue we must...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy will be aware, this country faced an unprecedented shock to the labour market because of the pandemic, with more than 1.7 million claims for support and 871,500 people claiming at least one pandemic unemployment payment since the payment was introduced in March 2020. The equivalent figure for those who claimed at least one PUP payment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: We did have a number of measures. Self-employed people on the PUP can earn up to €960 every eight weeks and it will not affect their payment. I acknowledge what the Deputy said regarding those in the music industry. It has been a very difficult time for them but, thankfully, weddings are still taking place. One venue I heard about has a wedding every single day for the month of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I agree with Deputy Matthews that we need to do that. We have the pathways to work strategy and we are working on it. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, is committed to providing 50,000 additional education and training places, supporting the delivery of actions set out in the apprenticeship action plan and supporting 50,000...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I appreciate the Deputy's comments, especially about the live entertainment sector. It is important to say that we are in a much better position now than previously. Music is now allowed at weddings. Indeed, I was at a wedding last Sunday and was delighted to see three different sets of musicians playing. In total, there were nine people employed at that one wedding for the day. I was...