Results 1,721-1,740 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (19 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Once a person has met the minimum requirement of 520 paid contributions, the rate of payment at which a person is paid the State Pension (Contributory) is currently calculated using two methods; the Yearly Average (YA) method that has been in place since the introduction of the contributory pension in 1961 and the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) that was introduced in 2018. The most...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (19 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The marriage bar was a legal requirement for women in the Irish civil service and some areas of the public service to retire from employment after marriage. While the legislation applied only to the civil and public sector, a similar policy was adopted by other sectors, such as the banking sector. The marriage bar for civil servants was removed from legislation in 1973. Civil and public...

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

Heather Humphreys: The Bereavement Grant has been discontinued for some time but under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make an Additional Needs Payment (ANP) to help meet essential expenditure which an eligible person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income. An ANP application can be made for assistance with funeral and burial expenses where there...

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

Heather Humphreys: The Government acknowledges the valuable role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for Government and the National Carers’ Strategy. The main income supports to carers provided by my department are Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the...

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

Heather Humphreys: The Telephone Support Allowance is a weekly payment of €2.50 for people on certain social welfare payments who are also getting both the Living Alone Increase and the Fuel Allowance. The primary objective of the Telephone Support Allowance is to allow the most vulnerable people at risk of isolation, including the elderly and those with disabilities, access to personal alarms or phones...

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

Heather Humphreys: The estimated full-year cost of increasing the qualified child payment by €7 per week for children aged 12 and over is €31m. The estimated full-year cost of increasing the qualified child payment by €4 per week for children aged under 12 is €47m. These costings are subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rural Schemes (19 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Farm Assist is a statutory means-tested income support specifically for farmers on low incomes. There are approximately 3,700 claims in payment at present. The Government has provided €50.92 million for the scheme in 2024. The tabular statement below shows the number of persons in receipt of Farm Assist at the end of each of the last five years. The scheme is demand-led. The...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Contracts (19 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has, since 2022, contracted the company referenced by the Deputy to provide a mobile device management service for the Department. The following table sets out the amount paid under the contract over that period. YEAR NO. CONTRACTS AMOUNT 2024 (to date) 1 €1,549 2023 1 ...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Harbours and Piers (19 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy is aware, Galway County Council is the responsible authority for the maintenance and development of pier infrastructure on the Aran Islands. In July 2023, I gave approval to Galway County Council to issue a request for tender for the development of the Inis Oírr pier. Galway County Council is the contracting authority and is therefore responsible for all aspects of the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Island Communities (19 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy will be aware, I launched Our Living Islands - the National Island Policy 2023-2033 in June of last year. Our Living Islands is a substantial document – a ten-year policy backed up by rolling three year action plans. It has time-bound commitments so that Departments and agencies across Government can be held to account for its implementation. Following the...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Harbours and Piers (19 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy is aware, Galway County Council is the responsible authority for the maintenance and development of pier infrastructure on the Aran Islands, including Inis Meáin. My Department recently gave approval to Galway County Council to proceed to tender for the appointment of consultant engineers to develop the Preliminary Business Case, incorporating a Strategic Assessment, for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: International Protection (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Carer's Allowance 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. In determining entitlement to social welfare payments for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, Deciding Officers make...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: International Protection (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: 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. My Department administers the Daily Expenses Allowance which is paid to protection applicants who reside in, or are...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: 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. An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 23 October 2023. A request for information issued to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Free Travel scheme is available to people over 66 years and to people in receipt of certain social welfare payments who are under 66 years. From 29th July 2024, Free Travel is also available to persons who are medically certified as unfit to drive for a period of at least 12 months. Free Travel recipients must be permanently resident in the State. The scheme permits travel for free...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Disability Allowance (DA) is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, means test and Habitual Residency conditions. I confirm that my Department received an application for DA from the person concerned...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an Office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeals Officers are independent in their decision making functions. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 30...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: This Government acknowledges the important role that carers, play and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, once a person has met the minimum requirement of 520 paid contributions, the current State Pension (Contributory) system provides measures including PRSI credits, Homemaking Disregards and HomeCaring Periods to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (18 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The SAFE (Standard Authentication Framework Environment) Registration process, which my Department uses to authenticate a person's identity, is currently a face- to-face process which results in the issuing of a Public Services Card (PSC). In order to ensure maximum use of SAFE registration capacity, a combination of walk-in services and appointment services is available across the network...