Results 17,701-17,720 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 42 – Rural and Community Development, and the Islands (Further Revised) (14 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: There is no way like the Ulster Way. I will be happy to support that. I welcome the announcement of €500 million in funding. There are some wonderful cross-Border projects. I know Deputy Ó Cuív is familiar with the one I am about to mention, the Ulster Canal. We have progressed it and the project has been started, so it is just a matter of getting it finished now. We...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 42 – Rural and Community Development, and the Islands (Further Revised) (14 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the committee and appreciate the Chairman's co-operation. I look forward to coming back next week.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Rights (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The deliberate misclassification of a worker as a self-employed contractor for PRSI purposes, in a situation where they are actually working as an employee, is wrong. My Department’s role is to ensure the correct class of PRSI is being returned for individuals, in order to protect their PRSI contribution record and scheme entitlements and to ensure the correct flow of funds into the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy is aware, the Government has been seeking to implement and operate supports during the COVID-19 emergency that are targeted where most needed to ensure continued economic activity and reduce the risk of poverty. The State Pension is the bedrock of the pension system in Ireland. It is extremely effective at ensuring that our pensioners do not experience poverty. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Government acknowledges the important 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. My Department provides income supports to carers such as Carer’s Allowance, Carer’s Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance and the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Any changes to the rates of social welfare schemes, including jobseeker's allowance, will be considered in a budgetary context, having regard to all available resources. Any person who is experiencing financial hardship may be eligible for financial supports under the means-tested supplementary welfare allowance scheme including an Exceptional or Urgent Needs Payment. I trust that this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: My Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability. It is important to note that entitlement to these supports is not contingent on the nature of the illness/disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work. Apart from these income supports, my...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment was introduced as an emergency measure to provide an income support to those who had lost their employment as a result of Covid. In order to ensure that the scheme was simple and accessible for the unprecedented number of applicants, a flat payment rate was introduced. This rate was the equivalent of the rate for a two-person household. From 26 June...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Based on the evidence supplied in support of their application for disability allowance (DA), this person’s application was disallowed on the grounds that they had means in excess of the statutory limit. They were notified in writing of this decision on 6 July 2020. The person concerned requested an appeal to the independent social welfare appeals office (SWAO). The decision of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: As announced in the July Stimulus package, the enterprise support grant was extended to assist eligible self-employed, including sole traders, who exit the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment or jobseekers schemes after 18th May 2020 to re-start their business which was closed due to the impact of the pandemic. Funding of €12 million has been provided for this grant. A grant...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Parental Leave Act, 1998, as amended, allows parents to take unpaid leave to look after young children. Parental leave can be taken as a continuous block or, with the agreement of an employer, can be broken up over a period of time. Statutory Instrument 569 of 1998 provides for the crediting of employment contributions to insured persons for each week during which the person avails...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 2 October 2020. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Fortnightly payments were introduced by my Department to assist with social distancing measures in the context of the current pandemic. Within any particular scheme, it is not possible to introduce different payment cycles for different individuals or for different categories of individual. All payments on each scheme, whether by collecting cash at the post office or depositing money...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: My Department’s Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) provides income support for jobseekers and certain others in receipt of social welfare payments who pursue full-time courses of education at second or third level. The main focus of the allowance is to assist qualifying applicants to improve their educational qualifications and their prospects of gaining employment. The BTEA has...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 298 to 300, inclusive, and 316 together. The SAFE registration process, which my Department uses to authenticate a person's identity when they apply for a PPSN is a face-to-face process, carried out in PPSN Centres across the country. At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, my Department temporarily postponed the SAFE registration...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment is available to employees and self-employed persons who lose their employment due to the impact of Covid-19. The quickest and most efficient way to apply is online at www.MyWelfare.ie and approximately 97% of applications are received online. Claim inflows and subsequent processing are monitored on a daily basis. While the majority of claims are awarded...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Pandemic Unemployment Payment was implemented as an emergency measure intended to last for 6 to 12 weeks. However, the impact of Covid-19 has been deeper and will last longer than anticipated back in March. Changes have been made to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment to ensure it continues to be sustainable over the longer duration of the scheme by linking the payment rates to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Fuel Allowance is a means tested payment of €24.50 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €686 each year) from October to April, to low income households, at an estimated cost of €295.35 million in 2020. This figure includes the additional four weeks of the Allowance which were paid to support these vulnerable households during the COVID-19 emergency. The purpose of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that they were in touch with the Deputy who had agreed to withdraw the Parliamentary Question on the basis that the person concerned had in fact submitted an appeal for disability allowance and not invalidity pension. I am also advised that the Office had written to the Deputy explaining the status of the disability allowance claim and I...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff (13 Oct 2020)

Heather Humphreys: There is one private secretary assigned to the Minister in my Department. The private secretary is at the grade of Higher Executive Officer and is paid on the salary scale for that grade. They are also paid the private secretary allowance, which amounts to €20,685 annually. Selection of the private secretary is by way of an internal process confined to staff of the Department.