Results 12,601-12,620 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

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

Heather Humphreys: We have the pathways to work strategy to help people to get back to work and to help those who want to upskill or reskill. Supports are there for people and a lot of investment has gone into pathways to work through the further education system and through my Department. We want to work with people and we want to help them because it is not an easy time for them. In terms of the PUP, it...

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

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. My Department is now at an advanced stage in its first phase of a two-phase procurement of new employment services. This procurement process follows extensive engagement by my Department with existing service partners over the last number of years. The new regional employment service model will extend high quality employment services across the...

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

Heather Humphreys: I appreciate the joint committee's strong interest in employment services and its engagement with me and my officials as it considered its findings. However, I note that there are some inaccuracies in the committee's report, in that evidence from witnesses to the committee that is not factually accurate is repeated. One example is the claim that my Department had not engaged with SIPTU...

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

Heather Humphreys: Some 80% of people on jobseeker's benefit receive the full rate of €203. This amount will increase to €208 in January following the budget changes. The position is clear, in that, if someone has been working a sufficient number of hours and has the required number of PRSI contributions, he or she will get the full payment rate. If anyone is on a reduced rate, it is because...

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

Heather Humphreys: To clarify, I will look at a pay-related support for people who are made unemployed. This is something to which we must give consideration. Such a scheme is the right thing to do, but it will take some time to design that system. We will take the lessons from the PUP. I am committed to developing a pay-related benefit whereby someone gets a percentage of his or her earnings upon losing a...

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

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Almost €9 billion has been spent on the PUP since its introduction, demonstrating the Government's commitment to workers. The number of PUP recipients has fallen dramatically from a peak of more than 605,000 last year to approximately 57,000 this week. This represents a drop of over 90%, highlighting that the majority of people have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Government is committed to supporting households to control and meet energy costs through a combination of monetary supports, as well as investment to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. My Department provides a range of supports to assist people with their fuel costs. Fuel allowance is currently paid to over 369,000 at an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: For those outside of social welfare supports, the Government launched a comprehensive strategy in 2016 to combat energy poverty following extensive public consultation. This strategy was spearheaded by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who has responsibility in that area. The strategy sets out the Government's commitment to protecting...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: We are spending over €323 million on the fuel allowance and €195 million on the gas and electricity allowance. That is a considerable amount of money. For those who have problems, as I said, there is an exceptional needs payment available under the supplementary welfare allowance from the community welfare officer for heating costs. The fund is uncapped. As it is demand-led,...

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

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The social insurance contribution-based jobseeker's benefit and the means-tested jobseeker's allowance provide income support for people who have lost their jobs and are unable to find full-time employment. The rate of jobseeker's benefit is graduated accorded to an applicant's previous average earnings and graduated rates are applied where the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a range of supports to carers including Carer's Allowance and Carer's Benefit. These payments support individuals who provide care to people in need of full-time care and attention. Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means tested payment and Carer's Benefit (CARB) is a payment to insured people who leave the workforce or reduce their working hours. Historic information on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Fuel Allowance criteria are designed in a way that directs the resources available to my Department in as targeted a manner as possible. This ensures that the fuel allowance payment goes to those who are more vulnerable to fuel poverty including those reliant on social protection payments for longer periods and those who are unlikely to have additional resources of their own. We made a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds is a recently introduced scheme to provide an income support to people who are 65, who were in employment and who are required to, or who choose to, retire at age 65, but who do not qualify for the State Pension until they reach age 66. This scheme has been introduced as a new measure to address a specific concern raised on behalf of people in this very...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment, or PUP as it is referred to, was introduced as an emergency response to an almost complete economic shutdown. The Government mandated public health restrictions meant that most sectors throughout the economy were closed with the hundreds of thousands of employees and self-employed did not have alternative employment options. In those circumstances the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Nov 2021)

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. When an appeal is assigned to an Appeals Officer for consideration the Appeals Officer makes a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I was pleased to announce on Budget Day that a 100% Christmas Bonus will be paid in early December this year benefitting over 1.4 million people in recipient of long-term social welfare payments. The payment of the Bonus this year will cost €313 million. As we know, this payment is an additional help to people as we enter the Christmas period and much of this is spent locally,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Nov 2021)

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, to 369,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €300 million in 2021. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I understand that the issue raised refers to the fact that applicants approved for the Back to Education Allowance, including those transferring from the Jobseeker's Transition scheme, are not eligible for a maintenance grant from SUSI. Whereas the Jobseeker's Allowance Transition payment is an eligible payment for the special rate of maintenance grant. The rules around the eligibility for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department can make a single Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. An urgent needs payment (UNP) may be made to persons who may not normally qualify for supplementary welfare allowance but who have an urgent need...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Nov 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 60, 79 and 84 together. Parent's Leave and Benefit are 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. The Parent’s Benefit scheme is family-friendly and flexible, allowing parents to take one week of leave...