Results 121-140 of 16,540 for speaker:Dara Calleary
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: We are working through all the recommendations and the review with a view to implementing them. One of the key recommendations was to ensure we can keep the minimum required hours and the subsidy under more regular review than was done previously. This is something we are absolutely going to make sure happens. We are also working with our colleagues in Intreo to ensure services and...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: Aontaím leis an Teachta go gcaithfimid an obair ag chur dínn agus an focal a chur amach. We did that this year through the summer after we relaunched the wage subsidy. We promoted it considerably and used targeted promotion to employers to encourage them to take on persons with disabilities and look at the opportunities that would bring to their businesses. In relation to the...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: My Department provides a number of supports for small-scale farmers in the circumstances outlined by Deputy Roche. Farm assist is the statutory income support specifically for farmers on low incomes. A person can qualify for farm assist if he or she is aged from 18 to 66, engaged in farming and meets the other statutory scheme conditions of the scheme. The farm assist scheme is similar to...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Staff (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: Not for the first time, the Deputy has inaccurately represented what I have said. I did not say that we are outsourcing this to the High Court or we are leaving it to the High Court to sort this out. I said it is not my role to get involved in a case that is before the High Court. Let me be very clear on that. I did not outsource it to anybody. Were I to get involved in a case before the...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Staff (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: We discussed this earlier. The Deputy's concern is with An Post. We do not have any information, and I have gone through the reasons why we in the Department do not possess the information the Deputy is seeking. On Scope, I will engage with it on its decision-making in this space and provide the Deputy with further information on that. It is not just a question of an easy change in the...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Staff (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: As I said, I do not want anybody to lose out or not get the pension to which he or she is entitled. The details provided in the Deputy's question today are not as detailed as those provided previously. I will ask my officials to engage with Deputy's office later today in order to give him the information we have and can share with him. I again make the point that we do not have very...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: Supporting disabled people is a key priority for me and for the Government. That is why the programme for Government contains a range of measures to support disabled people. One of these commitments was the publication of a new disability strategy. I am very pleased that we recently published the national human rights strategy for disabled people. This strategy sets out a...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: As the Deputy said, we are examining the whole area of means testing. It is important that our supports are targeted and go to those who need them most in terms addressing people in poverty. The work is ongoing on that, in particular as regards the disability allowance. We have been tasked within the human rights strategy on disability to look at this issue. We have set up a network to...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: Deputy O'Reilly is spot-on regarding waste. I get that feedback all the time. A five-year-old should not be getting the same portion as a 14-year-old. That is something I am going to engage with the dietitian on. The procurement of school meals is done through the Department of education. We have a school meals working group and I have asked it to look at the whole area of waste. The...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: My Department provides the fish assist support, which is available to self-employed fishers on a low income under the means-tested jobseeker's allowance scheme. It is based on the conditions and rate of payment under the farm assist scheme. The fish assist scheme provides favourable treatment to self-employed fishers compared with other self-employed workers through additional income...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: I was surprised at the low numbers on the scheme myself. I have asked my officials to interrogate those numbers and to make sure there is awareness of the fish assist scheme in the communities where fishers are based. We will work on such an awareness programme. I will revert to the Deputy with regard to the provisions on seaweed, which he has discussed with me previously. We have a range...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: We will certainly engage with the Deputy on that. One of the difficulties in relation to seaweed harvesting is that it continues to be a very informal part of the economy meaning it is very difficult to get statistics and measurements we can stand over as regards those participating in it and earning from it, supply chains and so on. We have looked at it. I have followed up with my...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: We have a range of supports available. I am happy to consider the proposal made by Deputy Timmins, but we must also ensure the State pension system is sustainable. The demographics of our country are changing very much as we speak. At present, we have four workers for every person over the age of 66. By the time we get to 2050, however, which is not that far away, this figure will be down...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: The Government acknowledges the very important role that foster carers play. We remain fully committed to supporting them. The contributory State pension system already provides a range of measures to recognise caring periods outside of paid employment, such as PRSI credits, homemaking disregards and home caring periods, to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: As Deputy Neville knows, there is a commitment in the programme for Government to look at the long-term pension provision for foster carers. The Department is engaging with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, which has line responsibility and operational management for foster caring, and with Tusla. We will engage with other stakeholders as necessary in terms of looking at...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Meals Programme (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: As we discussed earlier, 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. In budget 2025, it was announced that the hot school meals scheme would be...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pension Provisions (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: I have outlined the position regarding that information. The Department does not categorise or record applications for State pensions by prior employer name. Issues relating to An Post are a matter for the Minister for communications, who has political responsibility. It is our role in the Department to lay down the rules, set out how it can be done and make payments in relation to...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: We all acknowledge the valuable role that family carers play. The Government remains fully committed to supporting carers in that role. The carer's allowance scheme is the main scheme by which the Department provides income support to carers. This year, expenditure on the carer's allowance scheme is estimated to be over €1.24 billion. There are currently almost 102,000 people in...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: I absolutely agree with everything the Deputy said about the work of carers and family carers right across the country. That is why significant improvements have been made and we will continue to make them. I am engaging with the Minister for public expenditure around budget 2026 with a view to progressing further supports for carers. On the work carers do, the point I would always make...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (25 Sep 2025)
Dara Calleary: As the Deputy may be aware, the previous Government established the Commission on Pensions to review the State pension system and make recommendations for its future. The commission strongly supported the retention of the qualifying criterion of 520 paid contributions. In part, this is because the actuarial value of the contributory State pension is currently estimated at approximately just...