Results 1,561-1,580 of 5,587 for speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Committee Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I am not accepting the amendments. I am quite happy to come in and debate these matters at any stage.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Committee Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: This arose following a critical review of a recommendation. We are moving more rapidly to defined contributions. There is a crossover of expertise here. In respect of the schemes in operation, my officials have informed me that there are more than 62,000 schemes in Ireland and there are approximately 700 defined schemes so there is a certain amount of logic following the review carried...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Committee Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The Senator is correct. I have heard him debate this issue many times with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection. I will not go over the details again. In fairness, the Senator has told me that he does not wish for me to do that. A few brief comments have been made several times. It is important to note again that the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Data (2 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme, was introduced in July 2011 in response to the unprecedented collapse in the economy – particularly the sharp increase in unemployment and a high level of involuntary emigration and negative growth. The scheme aims to provide unemployed people with the opportunity to secure work experience and to prove their competence to prospective...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Work Allowance Eligibility (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance is designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are on social welfare payments to develop a business while allowing them to retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment over two years; 100% in year 1 and 75% in year 2. No lump-sum funds are available from the Department. The Department can provide up to 80%...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Data (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The primary purpose of the JobBridge scheme is to provide worthwhile work experience opportunities for unemployed people. Under the terms of the scheme interns continue to receive their Jobseeker payment and are not employees of the Host Organisation. The Terms and Conditions of the scheme explicitly require Host Organisations to confirm that they have Public/Employer Liability Insurance...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other vulnerable persons (including lone parents, recovering drug users and persons with a disability) with an opportunity to engage in part-time work and training within their communities on a temporary, fixed-term basis. With effect from 3 April 2000, lifetime...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Work Allowance Application Numbers (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: There are two schemes to assist people on certain social protection payments who wish to become self-employed; namely the Short Term Enterprise Allowance and the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA). The Short Term Enterprise Allowance provides immediate access to those who qualify for jobseekers benefit wishing to set up a business. Payment under the scheme is at the same rate and for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Given the level of unemployment, the key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives over the past four years has been is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments. Accordingly the employment services and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: In July 2008 the Labour Court recommended that an agreed pension scheme should be introduced for Community Employment (CE) scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors, and that such a scheme should be adequately funded by FÁS (LCR19293). It must also be noted that the employer in this situation is the sponsoring organisation and not FÁS (or the Department of Social Protection...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Operation (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Community Employment (CE) supervisors are generally employees of private companies limited by guarantee and are neither public nor civil servants. There is no relativity with civil service grades. The employment arrangements that accrue for a supervisor or assistant supervisor are a contractual matter between the individuals concerned and their legal employer, subject to compliance with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Operation (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: This Department has become aware in recent times of increases in insurance premiums for CE schemes. The main reasons cited for this is an increase in claims frequency over recent years by such schemes. The Department has been in consultation with the main insurers about the proposed increase and to seek to limit the incidence of future claims. The Department recommends that schemes seek...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The Department keeps the eligibility criteria for Community Employment (CE) places under review to ensure that these are effective in targeting long-term unemployed jobseekers. The number of unemployed persons (seasonally adjusted) has dropped from 267,000 (12.4%) in October 2013 to 192,400 (8.9%) in October 2015 (CSO). With the numbers of unemployed falling, demand for CE places may...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for supporting the provision of information, advice (including money and budgeting advice) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services. It delivers on its remit through a network of delivery partners which includes 42 local Citizens Information Services (CIS) and 51 local Money Advice and Budgeting...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: From January to the end of October 2015, approximately 30,000 people have benefitted from a Community Employment (CE) place, of which 23,876 are currently engaged in around 1,000 separate schemes throughout the country. The budget for CE for 2015 is €373.3 million. Significant improvements have been made to the operation and governance of CE since 2012 and these continue in 2015....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 63,000 people at a cost of €298 million in 2015. Under the legislative provisions governing rent supplement, the Department’s relationship is with the tenant; the tenant makes the application for rent supplement and payment is made to the tenant to assist them...

Leaders' Questions (26 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Listen to the truth.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Payments (26 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department of Social Protection may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €27.9 million for the ENP scheme in 2015. An application can be made...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Operation (26 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The terms of employment for persons employed as supervisors on Community Employment (CE) schemes are a contractual matter between the employer (CE Sponsor) and the employee (supervisor). Employers (including CE Sponsoring Organisations) are legally obliged to offer access to at least one Standard Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) under the Pension (Amendment) Act 2002. All CE...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (26 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme currently supporting approximately 63,000 people. A breakdown of rent supplement recipients on a county basis is provided in the tabular statement below. Over 17,200 rent supplement tenancies have been awarded this year, of which approximately 5,600 are in Dublin. Over €298 million has been...