Results 1,401-1,420 of 15,365 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Reviews (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The report of the Review Group for the Gender Recognition Act under section 7 of the Act included, at recommendation 2A, that legal recognition should be made available to people who are non-binary. This recommendation will, in part, be informed by an impact assessment on existing legislation that would arise by providing for a new, non-binary, category of gender. This assessment will...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Gender Recognition (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Gender Recognition Act 2015 sets out the process behind the legal recognition of a change in gender from "male" to "female" or from "female" to "male" genders only. The recognition of a document containing a non-binary marker from another EU state is a matter to be determined by the department, or body, that a person holding such a document interacts with. I trust this clarifies the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Pension Provisions (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The social welfare system is primarily a contingency-based system where entitlement to benefits is based on a number of defined contingencies such as sickness, unemployment, old age or bereavement and having sufficient social insurance contributions over a working lifetime. There are two basic principles which underpin the Irish social insurance system. Firstly, there is the contributory...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Childcare Services (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: In general, medical or health related benefits, including those relating to eyecare, fall within the remit of the Department of Health and the HSE. My Department administers the treatment benefit scheme which provides dental, optical, and medical appliances benefits to insured workers, the self-employed and retired people. Treatment benefit is an insurance-based scheme which provides...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Care Services (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Government is very aware of the key role that family carers play in Irish society and the challenges they face and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. There have been a number of significant improvements made to the income thresholds in the means test in recent years. As part of Budget 2025, the weekly income disregard will increase in July from €450 to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social Welfare Schemes (1 Apr 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. I can confirm that full rate CA has been in payment to the person concerned since 12 January 2017. As part of Budget...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Care Services (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The person concerned reached pension age on 25 July 2014. An application for State Pension (contributory) has not been received in my Department. To be eligible for the state pension (contributory), an individual must have at least 520 paid contributions. The records of my Department show the person concerned has 312 paid contributions from 1993/94 to 2013 which falls short of the minimum...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Transport Costs (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: Under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, my Department may make Additional Needs Payments to help meet essential expenses that a person cannot pay from their weekly income or other personal and household resources. This can include assistance with transport costs incurred for attending hospital appointments where there are no other supports available. The decision process...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: Child Benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 19th birthday where they are in full-time education or have a disability. As a universal payment, Child Benefit assists parents with the cost associated with raising children and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Irish Sign Language (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: Between 1 January and 31 December 2024 all videos posted to my Department's social media channels included closed captions. This includes the JobsIreland social media channels as well as those of the Department of Social Protection. Three videos using Irish Sign Language (ISL) were developed in 2024, one promoting the Work and Access programme and two in relation to the ISL voucher scheme....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Disability Services (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The State Pension, whether Contributory or Non-Contributory, is paid to those who have reached pensionable age 66. Currently, the maximum weekly personal rate of State Pension (Contributory) is €289.30, some €40 to €45 per week more than those in receipt of a disability payment. My Department commissioned Indecon to research the cost of disability in Ireland; the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Disability Services (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: Disability Allowance and Blind Pension have been structured to support recipients to avail of opportunities to pursue employment, be that self-employment or insurable employment. When an individual commences employment, an income disregard of €165 per week is applied. In addition, 50% of earnings between €165 and €375 is also disregarded for the purpose of the means...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Reviews (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is payable to a parent / guardian in respect of a child aged under 16 who has a severe disability requiring continual or continuous care and attention substantially in excess of the care and attention normally required by a child of the same age and where the level of that disability is such that the child is likely to require this level of care and attention...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social Welfare Payments (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department does not hold information on protection orders or residency permits and thus I am unable to answer the Deputy's question.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department is responsible for the Seniors Alert Scheme which encourages community support for vulnerable older people. Participants are provided with a monitored personal alarm, which supports them to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. Under the scheme, personal alarms are provided via a registered community based-organisation, encouraging...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Community Development Projects (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: My Department has responsibility for policy and legislation in relation to local authority burial grounds while the actual operation of burial grounds is the responsibility of the local authority concerned.Under the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Acts, 1878 to 2001, local authorities are deemed to be burial boards for their respective functional areas. Acting in their capacity as burial...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Animal Welfare (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 858 and 859 together. The Programme for Government sets out how the Government intends to provide for an enhanced approach to dog control issues. In this regard, all legislation and policy in relation to the Control of Dogs, Dog Welfare and Dog Breeding Establishments will rest with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Discussions are...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: Reply not received from Department.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) is a strategic capital investment fund that is key to the delivery of Ireland's rural development policy, Our Rural Future 2021-2025. RRDF provides funding for the development and construction of capital projects in towns, villages and rural areas across Ireland. Funding is allocated to local authorities and other State-funded bodies, who...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Schemes (1 Apr 2025)

Dara Calleary: The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) provides funding for the development and enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as walking trails, cycleways, water-based recreation sites and mountain trails. Between 2020 and 2024, almost €3.5 million was awarded to Cork County Council for over 40 projects. The table attached outlines funding awarded to Cork County...