Results 18,121-18,140 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Drug Treatment Programmes (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I want to assure the Deputy that the status of the specific Community Employment (CE) Drug Rehabilitation Programme will not be affected by the proposed changes in CE eligibility. The Drugs Programme Framework, including the revised special conditions under which CE is delivered, will continue to apply. The CE eligibility conditions will continue to be waived for participants who are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Child Benefit is a 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 up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to 623,135 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The legislation underpinning the definition of a child for the purposes of Child Benefit are contained in Sections 219 and 220 of the 2005 Social Welfare Consolidation Act. As a universal payment Child Benefit provides assistance to eligible families in recognition of the extra costs associated with raising children. Increases for a Qualified Child (IQCs) are paid as child-related supplements...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions Reform (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The overall concern in recent years has been to protect the value of weekly social welfare rates. Expenditure on pensions, at approximately €7 billion, is the largest block of expenditure in my Department, representing over 36% of overall expenditure. Due to demographic changes, my Department’s spending on older people is increasing year on year. Maintaining the rate of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The average appeal processing times for all appeals determined from 2015 to date in 2017 broken down by all social welfare scheme types is outlined in the tables below. My Department, like all Government departments and agencies is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget, which for this Department has involved reductions in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The home-makers scheme makes qualification for a higher rate of State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. The scheme, which was introduced in and took effect for periods from 1994, allows up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age (or caring for incapacitated people over that age) to be disregarded in the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to persons who are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require that level of care. This means that the care recipient requires from another person continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily functions or continual...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Each scheme area is continuously monitored and reviewed to ensure customers are responded to and claims are processed as quickly as possible. However, the Department has experienced some difficulty in recent times with the maternity benefit scheme, where it has not been possible to process all...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM) is undertaking a piece of research at the moment which is examining the effectiveness of the reduced rates in encouraging young jobseekers to avail of education, training, employment programmes and opportunities. My Department has not commissioned the NUIM to undertake this research, rather, as part of an effort to encourage and promote...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 99 together. I understand that the Deputies’ questions relate to a comment I made in the course of the recent Social Welfare Bill 2016, when I announced that the issue of homemaker periods would be considered in the context of the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) reform that is being planned, and would feature in the consultation document...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Reform (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I have made pension reform a priority for my term as Minister for Social Protection. To this end I can confirm my intention to publish and start implementing an Action Plan for the reform of pensions over the coming months. The rate of supplementary pension coverage in Ireland is estimated at 35% of the working population when the private sector is considered in isolation. If measures...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: There are two State pensions related to reaching state pension age. Firstly, the State pension (non-contributory) is a means tested pension and is funded by general taxation. Secondly, the State pension (contributory) is not means tested and is paid from the Social Insurance Fund. In Ireland, as in other countries, the State contributory pension is primarily aimed at people with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Disability allowance (DA) is a payment for persons with a specified disability who are over 16 and under 66. As a result of that disability, which must be expected to last at least a year, they must be deemed to be substantially restricted in obtaining employment otherwise suitable to their age, qualifications and experience. Applicants must also satisfy a means test and be habitually...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Garda Vetting of Personnel (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is the responsibility of the Community Employment (CE) Sponsor to ensure that all CE participants working or training with children and/or vulnerable adults go through the Garda vetting process. Garda vetting of CE participants is primarily done through Volunteer Ireland. The cost of Garda vetting can be recouped from the materials grant provided by my Department to CE Sponsors. I have...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to provide income support for low income farmers. It replaced the former smallholders’ unemployment assistance payment. In line with the then existing arrangements for unemployment assistance (including smallholders) and pre-retirement allowance, the income of farm assist recipients was exempt from class S PRSI for self-employed workers....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Creation (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Government policy to reduce unemployment is twofold. First, through policies set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs; and second, through Pathways to Work to ensure that as many of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register, including young unemployed...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Programmes (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The JobBridge scheme was introduced in July 2011 in response to the sharp and dramatic increase in unemployment. A robust external evaluation of the scheme, conducted by Indecon Economic Consultants in 2016, found that it is one of the most effective labour market programmes – increasing participants’ employment outcomes by 32%. It also found that while participants rated the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Contingency Planning (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Maternity benefit is a payment made to women who are on maternity leave from work and covered by The rate of maternity benefit was increased to €235 in the 2017 Budget and allowances for dependent adults and children are available to those who qualify. Maternity benefit section is currently experiencing some difficulty with processing all claims in advance of their maternity leave...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Back to Education Allowance Scheme (BTEA) enables eligible persons 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 designed primarily to support second chance education. A new €500 annual Cost of Education Allowance will be made available to BTEA...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: State pension (contributory) is a qualifying payment for receipt of living alone increase, payable to primary claimants where the eligibility conditions are met. The increase is not payable to qualified adults of primary claimants. On 1 February 2017, a form to facilitate direct payment of the qualified adult portion of the spouse’s total pension entitlement was issued to the...