Results 1,321-1,340 of 14,473 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Artificial Intelligence (6 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department follows the current advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as set out in “Cyber Security Guidance on Generative AI for Public Sector Bodies” published on 1 June 2023. Artificial Intelligence tools are not currently used in my Department. I can therefore confirm that no funding was allocated or expended in 2024 on artificial intelligence...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Contracts (6 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The details the Deputy has requested for my Department, on consultant services utilised in 2023 and 2024, are set out at the link below. In the interest of openness and transparency my Department publishes detailed financial information on a regular basis, including details of all consultancy payments made by the Department in a given year and what services the payments related to. This...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Code (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: This is my first time since my appointment to address the House in this form - I spoke earlier on the storm debate - so I thank Deputies for their good wishes. I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on her election and Deputy Buckley on his re-election. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am sorry to hear about the case he described. As he will know, in some of its laws, the State...

Government’s Response to Storm Éowyn: Statements (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I have been across County Mayo and across the country in recent weeks and I have seen at first hand, as many colleagues have, the very devastating real effects of Storm Éowyn on communities and families throughout the country. I assure people in every community, in rural and in urban areas, that we are working hard and doing all we can to get their power, water and communications back...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: In 2024, my Department approved 2,061 applications for career breaks and special leave, both paid and unpaid. This includes Force Majeure, attendance at a court case as a witness or as a member of a jury. Within this figure, five applications were specifically related to civil servants and/or their spouses undertaking temporary roles within EU institutions. Due to the limited number of cases,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Poverty Data (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: A person is said to be in consistent poverty if they are both at-risk-of-poverty (AROP) and suffering from material deprivation. Data on rates of consistent poverty are derived from the CSOs Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC). The SILC is an annual survey carried out by the CSO of a representative sample of the population. The survey collects information on the income and living...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Poverty Data (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: While there is no official indicator at EU level for measuring the rate of people experiencing food poverty, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has developed a deprivation-based measure of food poverty in Ireland, based on data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC). Under this measure, Food Poverty is defined as the inability to have an adequate and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 636, 639, 652, 653, 662, 666, 670, 681, 687 and 728 together. 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. As the Deputies are aware, on 22nd January 2024, the Supreme Court delivered...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Illness benefit is the primary short term income support provided by my Department to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance. Eligibility for illness benefit depends on the person’s PRSI record and class. The person must have made the required number of contributions under class A, E, H or P to qualify. In general,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: 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 €400 million in 2025. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. Only one allowance is paid per household. The criteria for Fuel Allowance are framed in order to direct the limited...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Fuel Allowance is a means-tested payment to assist pensioners and other long-term social welfare dependent householders with their winter heating costs. The payment is made over the winter season - from September to April - at the weekly rate of €33 or, if preferred, by way of two lump sum instalments - one in September and one in January. Only one Fuel Allowance is payable per...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Under the Department’s Compliance and Anti-Fraud Strategy, state pension scheme areas have a commitment to an annual level of control reviews and operates an ongoing continuous schedule of control and review activity. The objective is to ensure that customers continue to receive their correct rate of payment over the lifetime of their claim. Reviews can arise from customer...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The grants available under the Reasonable Accommodation Fund aimed to support the employment of disabled people in the open labour market and to make the workplace more accessible. The table below provides data on expenditure as requested on three of the Reasonable Accommodation Fund grants issued from 2020 to 2024. - Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant Job...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: 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 Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and the habitual residency conditions. Persons in receipt of DA can return to education and training. They have the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and the habitual residency conditions. I confirm that my Department received an application for DA from the person...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned was in receipt of the state pension (non-contributory) from 12 October 2007. On 21 November 2018, following a review of entitlement the pension was stopped as the means of the person concerned exceeded the weekly statutory limit. An overpayment totaling €92,110.10 was raised for the period 12 October 2007 – 12 March 2015. A decision letter issued on 21...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned turned pension age on 7 October 2007. To qualify for the standard state pension (contributory) at this time, 260 full-rate paid contributions were needed. The records of my department show that the person concerned has 239 paid contributions. A letter issued on 19 November 2007 to advise the person concerned that they did not qualify for the standard state pension...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and habitual residency conditions. I confirm that my department received an application for DA from the person concerned on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2025)

Dara Calleary: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. Means are any income belonging to the carer and their spouse / civil partner / cohabitant, property (except their own...