Results 121-140 of 2,335 for speaker:Joe O'Brien

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Emergency Accommodation (24 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: I thank the Deputy for his question. The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are more than one million customers with direct eligibility. In budget 2024 we expanded the free travel scheme to support people who are medically certified as unable to drive. The estimated expenditure on free travel...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Addiction Treatment Services (24 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The aim of Community Employment (CE) is to enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. It also helps long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine. My Department supports the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Welfare Services (24 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 430 community-based organisations, to provide local services through a social enterprise model, with funding of circa €50 million allocated every year. The aim of the CSP is to create sustainable jobs for those most distant from the labour market, in particular for those who are long term unemployed and from specific...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Defective Building Materials (24 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The group in question made contact with me and my office has been in contact with them on a number of occasions. The group have been advised to make contact with their local development company in Donegal who receive funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage via Donegal County Council to employ redress support workers across the County.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (24 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) is Ireland’s primary social inclusion intervention with an allocation of €47.4 million in 2024. SICAP funding allocations are made based on levels of relative affluence and deprivation in communities, ensuring the programme is targeting disadvantage fairly, to help those individuals in greatest need of the support....

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (24 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: My Departments Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 430 community-based organisations, to provide local services through a social enterprise model, with an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager. Following an independent review of the programme, the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (24 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The Community Enhancement Programme (CEP) was established in 2018 with the aim of providing funding for community groups in disadvantaged areas across Ireland. There have been a number of iterations of the CEP since then. In 2023, the CEP was replaced by the Local Enhancement Programme (LEP) which has a particular focus on small capital works/improvements, and the purchase of equipment for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (19 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The Department of Social Protection delivers a range of employment and income support schemes including the Community Employment (CE), Rural Social Scheme (RSS) and Tús. While the Department provides funding for participant and supervisors' payroll, the Department is not the employer of any scheme participants or their supervisors. There are no current plans for the Department to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (19 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The Rural Social Scheme (RSS) is an income support initiative which provides part-time employment opportunities in community and voluntary organisations for low-income farmers or fisherpersons. To participate a person must be aged 25 or over, and in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payments. While partaking on RSS a participant must continue to maintain an underlying entitlement to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Sector Pay (18 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: As the Deputy is aware, Job Initiative (JI) is an employment support scheme which was designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities. The Department provides wage grant funding for JI team leaders and JI participants along with a grant contribution towards the running costs of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Poverty Data (18 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: In the EU-Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), disability is approximated according to the concept of global activity limitation, which is defined as a limitation – because of health problems – in carrying out usual activities (for at least the previous 6 months). As reported by Eurostat, the EU- Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2023 data shows that...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Charitable and Voluntary Organisations (18 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: Our charity sector is an important and valued part of Irish society, playing an integral role in the provision of services to our communities. This includes many social enterprises, active across many sectors such as childcare, housing, health, food, tourism, recycling, transportation, and arts and culture. The Charities Amendment Act 2024 (‘the Act’) revises and updates...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Pensions Reform (18 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The Government's five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector, Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities, was published in 2019. This is a whole of government strategy led by my Department, which is implemented collaboratively with the sector through the Cross Sector Group on Local and Community Development. This Strategy reaffirms the Government’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes (9 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: Community Employment (CE) schemes deliver important locally based community services, while providing a valuable training and development opportunity to the long-term unemployed and to those furthest removed from the labour market. The Deputy will be aware that CE scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector that receive...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (9 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: Public Participation Networks (PPNs) were established following the enactment of the Local Government Reform Act in 2014. The PPN is the main link through which each local authority connects with the local community sector. The PPNs' primary function is to provide representation for the community sector in policy-making structures, giving local volunteers a greater say in local government...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (9 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), is our country’s primary social inclusion programme, which aims to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality by supporting disadvantaged communities and individuals. This is a national programme that is delivered in both rural and urban areas by Local Development Companies (LDCs) to help those in the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (9 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: Last December, I launched the Local Enhancement Programme (LEP), with capital funding of €6 million to assist community groups across the country. The LEP is targeted to the specific challenges facing local community groups and delivers immediate, tangible supports where they are needed most. There was a particular focus on small capital works/improvements, and the purchase of...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (9 Sep 2024)

Joe O'Brien: My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) currently supports over 430 community-based organisations, with a budget of €52.4m in 2024, to provide local services through a social enterprise model. CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution towards each full-time equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, towards the cost of employing a manager. The...

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

Joe O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1350 and 1351 together. The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 is a whole-of-government strategy with a five-year timeframe which aims to reduce consistent poverty to 2% or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive countries in the EU. The Roadmap consists of 81 (originally 69) commitments to achieve seven high level goals across a number...

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

Joe O'Brien: The North East Inner City (NEIC) Programme aims to make the North East Inner City a safe, attractive and vibrant living and working environment for the community and its families with opportunities for all to lead full lives. The Department of the Taoiseach has oversight of the NEIC Programme. The NEIC Initiative commenced in July 2016, when the Government launched a major initiative to...