Results 15,921-15,940 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Ireland has negotiated Bilateral Social Security Agreements with a number of counties including Australia.  The main purpose of these Agreements is to protect the pension rights of people who have worked and paid social security contributions in Ireland and the countries with which Ireland has such agreements. Time spent working in Australia would be reckonable in Ireland for pension...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has proven to be a vital income support to workers, thousands of whom lost their jobs virtually overnight. Since the introduction of the scheme just under 20 million payments have been made to over 850,000 people providing income support of more than €6.3 billion to date. Over the last 12 months, just under 2 million...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The new Benefit Payment for 65 year olds was introduced in fulfillment of a commitment in the Programme for Government to address the position of people who retire from employment at age 65. The quickest way to apply for the Benefit Payment for 65 year olds is through the MyWelfare online service. My Department fully accepts that there are people aged 65 who cannot or do not wish to use...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: An application for invalidity pension (IP) was received from the person concerned on 22 January 2021. Her claim has been awarded by a Deciding Officer and backdated six months to 23 July 2020.  Payment will issue to her nominated bank account on 25 March 2021.  Any arrears due from 23 July 2020 to 24 March 2021 (less any overlapping social welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Bank Charges (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Department of Social Protection is in the process of changing its banker to Danske Bank.  This is on foot of the Government’s decision in 2017 to tender for a single banking service for all Government Departments and Offices, a contract which was awarded to Danske Bank in 2018. My Department uses the bank for both cheque and electronic fund transfer (EFT) payments, i.e....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I recently signed Regulations which introduced a new disregard which will apply to Disability Allowance recipients who have been granted bursaries, stipends or scholarships towards completing a PhD.  It is subject to an annual limit of €20,000 per annum (i.e. if a recipient gets more than one bursary, the combination cannot exceed €20,000) and is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has proven to be a vital income support to workers, thousands of whom lost their jobs virtually overnight. Since the introduction of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, just under 20 million payments have been made to over 850,000 people providing income support of more than €6.3 billion to date. Over the last 12 months, just under 2 million...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: All of my Department’s schemes, including the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), are subject to on-going control reviews and eligibility checks. This is to protect the integrity of the social welfare system and to ensure that the right person is paid the right amount of money at the right time. In March 2020, a reporting facility was established to allow employers to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes Data (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the tables below to the extent that my Department is in a position to do so.  It should be noted, however, that the final column in each table will include claimants who are no longer in receipt of JST or OFP for a range of reasons - for example, the child concerned may have passed the relevant age threshold and the claimant may...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Support Payments (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned was awarded Invalidity Pension from 1 October 2020 at the maximum weekly personal rate of €208.50. His claim for an increase for a qualified child was disallowed as entitlement to this increase is subject to a means test and it was deemed that his spouse's earnings were in excess of the statutory limit for receipt. If there is a change in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned will reach pension age on 3 August 2021 and has not yet applied for State pension.  I have arranged for a copy of the person’s social insurance contribution record to issue to them, together with an application form for State pension (contributory). Under current eligibility conditions an individual must have 520 full-rate paid contributions in order to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm that there is no requirement for a person who has been issued a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) to provide evidence of a Deed Poll change of name or two years proof of usage of their new name, before being issued a Public Services Card (PSC) Where an individual holds a PSC in their previous identity, they will need to replace it with a new PSC to reflect their new...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The back to education allowance scheme (BTEA) provides people with a second chance education that will improve their prospects of securing employment.  It enables eligible people to pursue approved education courses and to continue to receive income support for the duration of a course of study, subject to meeting certain conditions. The BTEA is not intended to provide a basis for a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment  (PUP) is available to employees and the self-employed who have lost their job on (or after) March 13 2020 due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic as per the scheme criteria.  The person concerned had been in receipt of weekly PUP payments in 2020 since the start of the pandemic until she returned to work in July 2020.   When...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Household Benefits Scheme (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned can apply online at MyWelfare.iefor the Household Benefits Package if they have a verified MyGovID account, or they can complete the application form which has issued to them. On receipt of their claim, the person's entitlement will be examined and they will be notified of the outcome without delay.   I...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm that my Department has allocated a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) to the individual referred to by the Deputy. A letter issued on 22nd March 2021 with details of her PPSN. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: Covid-19-related spend by the Department of Social Protection in 2020 was €9,112.7 million made up as follows: 1. €4,978.0m on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment; 2. €2,706.1m on the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS); 3. €1,371.7m on the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS); 4. €56.9m on Covid-19 Illness Benefit. These figures are provisional...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Child Maintenance Payments (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Government established a Child Maintenance Review Group to examine certain issues in relation to child maintenance in Ireland.  The Group is chaired by former Circuit Court Judge Catherine Murphy and includes legal, policy and academic professionals as well as officials from my Department and the Department of Justice. The Group's Terms of Reference includes considering and...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Poverty Data (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: The Pobal HP Deprivation index is Ireland’s primary social gradient tool, used by numerous state agencies for the identification of disadvantage, in order to target resources towards communities most in need. The updating of the index is commissioned by Pobal every five years, following the completion of the national census. The index is created and updated by independent...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Legislative Process (24 Mar 2021)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm that the process for drafting and producing legislation in my Department is as follows:  Government indicates that it will bring forward legislation to deal with a particular issue. This commitment is usually made in, for example, a Programme for Government, Strategy document and or in Debates in the Oireachtas or elsewhere. The process through which this...