Results 1,281-1,300 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

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

Heather Humphreys: The estimated full year cost to increase the income disregard for Carer's Allowances to €625 for a single person and €1,250 per couple is €23.6 million, based on the number of recipients this year. This does not take into account any potential customer behavioural changes. This costing is based on the estimated average number of recipients in 2024, and is subject to...

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

Heather Humphreys: The Minister for Social Protection is legally required to have an Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund undertaken at five yearly intervals. The purpose of the review is to determine the extent to which the Fund may be expected, in the long term, to meet the demands in respect of payment of benefits and other payments. The review takes account of the adequacy or otherwise of...

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

Heather Humphreys: The introduction of an automatic enrolment (AE) retirement savings system is a Programme for Government commitment and a key priority for me as the Minister for Social Protection. Implementation of the AE system is now well underway, with the recent enactment of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024 and the announcement of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as the preferred...

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

Heather Humphreys: Firstly, let me reiterate that I value and acknowledge the important services that the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS) provides to adults with disabilities across the country. As you will be aware, NAS is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It is funded to provide services on behalf of the Citizens Information Board (CIB). CIB, in turn, is...

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

Heather Humphreys: Firstly, let me reiterate that I value and acknowledge the important services that the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS) provides to adults with disabilities across the country. As you will be aware, NAS is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It is funded to provide services on behalf of the Citizens Information Board (CIB). CIB, in turn, is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The objective of the School Meals Programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering...

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

Heather Humphreys: Firstly, let me reiterate that I value and acknowledge the important services that the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS) provides to adults with disabilities across the country. As you will be aware, NAS is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It is funded to provide services on behalf of the Citizens Information Board (CIB). CIB, in turn, is...

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

Heather Humphreys: Parental Leave allows parents to take 26 weeks unpaid leave for each eligible child before their twelfth birthday. My colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth holds responsibility for Parental Leave. There is no associated benefit payable with Parental Leave. It is not known how many people avail of Parental Leave and therefore it is not possible to...

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

Heather Humphreys: The estimated full year cost of increasing Carer's Allowance to €325 a week is €270.7 million. This costing includes adjusting the different rates currently paid to those under 66 years (€248/per week for one caree etc.), and those over 66 years (€286/week for one caree etc.) and includes relevant adjustment of half-rate Carers Allowance. The estimated cost of...

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

Heather Humphreys: This is not a matter for the Department of Social Protection. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment is responsible for the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The objective of the School Meals Programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering...

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

Heather Humphreys: Under the social security arrangements between Ireland and the United Kingdom, the respective authorities exchange social insurance record details for pension entitlement assessment purposes. State Pension (Contributory) applications are examined to establish entitlement based on a person’s Irish contribution record. If a person does not qualify for the pension or qualifies for a...

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

Heather Humphreys: In general, the Department of the Taoiseach is the government coordinator of cross-border policy issues. However, my Department regularly contributes to the work of other departments and agencies in relation to all island issues, where the scope is relevant to the remit of the Department of Social Protection. For example, the Cross Border Partnership for Employment Services (CBPES) is a...

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

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a wide range of income and employment supports to assist jobseekers and employees with disabilities, and their employers. These supports include the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and the Disability Awareness Support Scheme. The Reasonable Accommodation Fund provides financial support for people with disabilities and for employers to help make their workplaces more...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (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, 22 January, 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: Social Welfare Appeals (23 Jul 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. The average waiting time for an appeal in 2023 was 16 weeks. An Appeals Modernisation Project is currently underway and a new...

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

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was received in that Office on 16 May 2024....

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

Heather Humphreys: There are currently more than 100 public helpline numbers in operation in my Department. These are officially advertised on a dedicated Social Welfare Numbers webpage on Gov.ie and they cover the wide range of schemes and services provided by my Department. While calls between members of the public and my Department are not recorded, sample call content is monitored by supervisors and...

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

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1394 and 1412 together. The estimated full-year cost of a €1 increase in each of the social insurance schemes, social assistance schemes, other schemes is set out in the table below. The costs are 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...