Results 1,261-1,280 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I am acutely aware, as we all are, of the pressures faced by those on fixed incomes given increases in the cost of living. Thankfully, this Government's management of the Irish economy, means that even in the face of challenging international conditions we have the capacity to respond, and we have responded. As Minister for Social Protection, I am fully committed to making the case for a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The estimated full-year cost of increasing all weekly rates by €20 is €1,513.5 million. The estimated full-year cost of increasing all weekly rates by 4.25% is €918.6 million. These costs are estimated on a full year basis and are based on the estimated number of recipients in 2024. It should be noted that these costings are subject to change in the context of emerging...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment is a special arrangement under the Jobseekers Allowance scheme, that is available to lone parents whose youngest child is aged 7 to 13 years inclusive. Under this arrangement a number of the conditions of the Jobseekers Allowance scheme are not applied. For example, a person does not have to be fully unemployed for four out of seven days. This means...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1355 and 1381 together. The estimated full year cost of increasing the qualified child rate by €6 for under 12's is €70.9m and by €15 for over 12's is €65.9m. These costings are based on the estimated average number of recipients in 2024, and is subject to change in light of emerging trends and subsequent revision of the estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1356 and 1382 together. Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their nineteenth birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to over 650,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Working Family Payment is a tax-free payment which provides an income top-up for employees, with children, with low earnings. It is a targeted measure that is directly linked to household income and therefore directly supports low-income working families. There are currently some 46,000 households in receipt of the Working Family Payment, in respect of some 98,000 children. The payment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Parents Benefit is a payment for self-employed people and employees, who are on Parents Leave, who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions. It is currently paid for seven weeks but as a result of measures included in Budget 2024 both the leave and benefit are being extended to nine weeks for each parent from the first of August 2024. The payment is €274 per week. Any decision to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a payment of €33 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €924 each year) from late September to April, at an estimated cost of €382 million in 2024. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household. At the end of December 2023, 411,395 household were in receipt of the Fuel Allowance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Living Alone Increase is an extra payment for recipients of certain social welfare payments who live alone. The current rate of increase is €22 per week a and is available to persons aged 66 or older who live alone and are in receipt of the State Pension (contributory and non-contributory), Widows, Widowers and Surviving Civil Partner's (contributory) Pension, Incapacity Supplement...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Maternity Benefit is a payment for employed women who are on Maternity Leave, and self-employed women, who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions. It is currently paid for twenty-six weeks at the weekly rate of €274 per week. Maternity Benefit is currently paid to approximately 19,630 recipients weekly with an estimated expenditure of more than €280 million in 2024. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Under the law as currently enacted, entitlement to a Widows, Widowers or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory pension is only available to a surviving partner who was party to a marriage or civil partnership. On Monday 22ndJanuary, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in relation to the entitlement of an unmarried cohabitant to a Widows, Widowers or Surviving Civil...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Based on provisional Q1 earnings figures released by the CSO, average earnings (excluding irregular earnings and overtime) is €864.28, and 34% of that figure is €293.86. To meet this figure, an increase of €16.50 on the current rate of State Pension (Contributory) would be required (rounded to the nearest 50 cent). The full-year cost of a €16.50 increase in only...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Household Benefits Package comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. The Department of Social Protection will spend approximately €294 million this year on the Household Benefits Package for over 523,000 customers. People over the age of 70 receive the Household Benefits Package, with one package provided per household. The package is also...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year. The rates of payment for the 2024 scheme are €160 for children aged between 4 and 11 years and €285 for children aged...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Tax Collection (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The table below shows the estimated additional revenue that would be raised by increasing both the employer and self-employed rates on each class of PRSI by 0.1 percentage points. These figures are assuming the increases come into effect from 1 January 2025 and are rounded to the nearest €1 million. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy. PRSI Classes Current Rates...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1367 and 1413 together. Age-related reduced rates apply to jobseekers aged 18 to 24 years and were introduced to prevent long-term welfare dependency by encouraging participation in training and employment programmes. Budget 2024 increased the maximum personal rate for a young adult to €141.70 per week from January 2024, which was an increase of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1368 and 1375 together. The estimated cost in 2024 of providing the same once-off payments announced in Budget 2024 and paid in 2023, including the Christmas Bonus, is outlined in the table below. These costings are based on the estimated average number of recipients in 2024 and as such, will change as the Department reviews recipient and expenditure trends...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability. These include contributory payments, based on PRSI contributions, such as Illness Benefit and Invalidity Pension, and non-contributory payments, based on a means test, such as Disability Allowance and Blind Pension. At an estimate, a cost-of-disability payment of €20 per...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a suite of income supports for those unable to work due to illness or disability. These include insurance-based schemes, based on Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions, and means-tested social assistance schemes. The primary disability related social assistance scheme is Disability Allowance, which is a means-tested payment for people with a specified...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The estimated cost of increasing the Carer's Support Grant to €2,000 annually is €23.6 million. The estimated cost of increasing the Carer's Support Grant to €2,500 annually is €102.1 million. It should be noted that these costings are subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated numbers of recipients.