Results 13,281-13,300 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I will supply the figures in respect of people who have gone into different sectors. Those figures provide us with important information to allow us to plan and help people to go into sectors where there are vacancies. It is also important that we work with the sectors and that each sector is investing in making itself an attractive place in which to work. That comes into the equation, and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy's colleague, Deputy Kerrane, raised the issue of local employment services earlier, and I responded to her. I will come back to that. Time spent on PUP will count towards eligibility for various employment supports, which is very important. Activation measures include training, work placement programmes and employment schemes. The time spent on the PUP by recipients allows...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy is absolutely right that we need to continue to support the women who are victims of domestic violence. The work to implement all the recommendations of the O'Malley report, as set out in the Supporting a Victim's Journey strategy, continues to be a priority. As part of the implementation of Supporting A Victim's Journey, the Department of Justice reviewed the supports and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he is aware, the PUP is an income support provided for employees and self-employed persons who lost employment as a direct consequence of the public health restrictions introduced in March 2020 to address the adverse health outcomes from the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 870,000 workers have received a PUP payment in the intervening period. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I do not have figures as to how may claimants have returned to their home countries. It is my understanding that a huge number of people have not gone back to their previous sectors; they have gone into other jobs. This is one of the reasons that some sectors are finding it difficult to recruit staff. Employees have moved on and taken jobs in other areas. I can get the Deputy the figures...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Pathways to work includes a number of measures to get people into new jobs. The most important thing they have to do is reskill, which requires training opportunities. That is why my focus, together with that of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, is on making sure people have the skills and confidence to take on new roles. We will be holding...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy said, people are getting back to work more quickly than we expected. A few months ago the projections were telling us that we would still have well over 100,000 on the PUP at the end of the year. In fact, we will now fall below the 100,000 mark next week, which will be significant and a important milestone. Some 500,000 people have come off the PUP since the peak. It is our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I do not have those figures to hand, but the biggest number of those who remain on the PUP are in the hospitality sector. Also, the last time I looked there were approximately 10,000 from the construction sector, which is quite a lot when you think about it. As I understand it, however, what the construction sector is looking for is higher skilled workers, and those on the PUP are probably...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. In August of last year I agreed a protocol with Tusla on a pilot basis to make rent supplement more easily accessible to victims of domestic violence. This seeks to ensure that victims of domestic violence are not prevented from leaving their home because of financial or accommodation difficulties. The arrangements in this protocol...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Justice is consulting on a third strategy for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The Government has taken significant action in tackling the scourge of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. It has provided additional relevant supports during the pandemic. As we know, victims have been particularly vulnerable at this time. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Government is committed to helping vulnerable households manage their energy costs through a combination of special energy related payments made by my Department and investment programmes within the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. My Department currently provides a range of schemes to assist low income households with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: As I said, anybody who struggles with heating costs is entitled to make an application for a payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. I encourage people to contact their local Intreo centre. Once they meet the eligibility criteria, they will be provided with additional financial support. A helpline is available at 0818 800024, and people can get support from that. It is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The important thing to say about the supplementary welfare allowance is that it is demand-led. There are no limits on it. If people qualify under the criteria set out, they will get their payments. The exceptional needs payments scheme is also, as the Deputy knows, demand-led. As a result, the level of expenditure of the schemes changes over time. I am saying very clearly that people...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he will be aware, this country faced an unprecedented shock to the labour market as a result of the pandemic. Under pathways to work, the Government's new employment services strategy which was launched last July, my Department has put in place a wide range of measures to assist those who are out of work in finding new jobs. Pathways to work...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. There is certainly merit in what she is saying. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to lose a child deserves support at that time. Three days is a very short time in which to deal with such awful grief. Off the top of my head, I believe there may be a payment for bereaved parents in the UK. Under that system, the employer covers the cost of the leave. I believe the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The fuel allowance is a payment of €28 per week for 28 weeks, from October to April, representing a total payment of €784 each year. It is paid to 370,000 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...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: It is important to say that we are already doing a lot to help people with their fuel costs. The fuel allowance payment is €28 per week and this will cost €300 million in 2021. Some 370,000 low-income households were able to benefit from that. The household benefits package, which consists of a set of allowances to help with the costs of running a household, includes...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The principle behind this is that people on long-term payments are unlikely to have additional resources of their own and are more vulnerable to poverty, including energy poverty. That is why we target people on longer-term payments. The payments the Deputy has mentioned are short-term payments. We take the view that we should help those who are more vulnerable to poverty. The best...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy. As part of the claims approval process, claims were checked to ensure the claimant had a valid personal public service, PPS, number and other identity details. Checks were carried out whenever applications were submitted. In 2020, over 52,000 reviews were carried out by the Department's special investigation unit, with over 17,000 claims closed, while a further 19,400...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (7 Oct 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for his kind words about the Department. Everybody in this House agrees that the Department did a Trojan job to get those payments out so quickly and efficiently. Almost €9 billion has been paid out and over 27 million payments have issued. That support is unprecedented. It was an emergency payment at a time of national crisis. If we find people who knowingly...