Results 1,801-1,820 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Currently, DEIS secondary schools have access to the school meals programme. I wanted to start with primary schools. As soon as that roll-out is finished, I hope the Minister for Social Protection in the next Government, whoever that may be, will start to roll out the provision to all secondary schools as well. It is the right thing to do. I have been absolutely committed to the school...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am committed to improving outcomes for people with a disability. I announced a number of measures to support them in budget 2024, including a €400 lump-sum payment in November, a Christmas bonus double payment in December, a cost-of-living bonus payment in January and a €12 increase in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy knows, the cost of disability crosses the remit of a number of Departments, encompassing transport, housing adaptation grants and access to services, including healthcare. Income supports are only part of the solution. The disability groups were not happy with the Green Paper. We have to go back to the drawing board, which we are doing by way of the Cabinet committee. We...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I published the Green Paper and consulted widely. People did not want it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: That was it. I took it off the table. The Cabinet committee is now in place. As I said, it is not just about income supports. There are 1.1 million people in this country who are disabled. The question is how we target the resources. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, continues to consult the sector. The findings from the Green Paper will be taken into consideration at the Cabinet...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I do not think I have the figure here about how long the oldest case is there, but I will get it for the Deputy. It is complicated enough and perhaps not that many people are familiar with this process, but it kicks in whenever a person provides new information. When an appeal is decided, if a person has new information, the application goes back in again and it is looked at with a fresh...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: In fairness to the Department, it generally does tell people what options are available to them. If an appellant is unhappy with the decision of an appeals officer, he or she may seek a review of the decision under section 317 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, provided there are new facts or evidence that were not before the appeals officer who made the original decision. A further...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. In recent years, entry to the school meals programme had been confined to DEIS schools in addition to schools identified by the Department of Education as having levels of concentrated disadvantage that would benefit from access to the programme. In budget 2022, I provided funding for all DEIS schools currently in the programme. In July 2022, I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: We wrote a second time to the approximately 1,000 schools that did not respond to us in the first call. Some 600 have come back and we will work with them. We will continue to approach the remaining schools. Obviously, I will need to secure more money in the budget this year to complete the roll-out of the programme. My plan is that all primary school children will have access to a hot...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As Minister for Social Protection, I am fully committed to making the case for a fair budget that protects the people most in need in our society, particularly families on low incomes and those people, including pensioners and carers, who are dependent on social welfare payments. As part of budget 2024, I secured a €2.3 billion social...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Well, I will have to give the Deputy the facts again. Consistent poverty and at-risk poverty have fallen. The 2023 national consistent poverty rate is 3.6%. This equates to 185,385 people, down from 4.9% in 2022, and 4.2% in 2021. This is the lowest rate of consistent poverty recorded since the start of the SILC survey. It puts the Government on track to meet the ambitious target set...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: No, I am not.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Regarding these lump sum payments, when people have ESB and heating bills in the winter, people need the money in their pockets then. There is no point in increasing the weekly rate. We need to get the money to them then to pay the bills. It has actually been shown that these once-off, or lump sum, payments have been very effective in dealing with the increase in the cost of living that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this issue. 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 system is underpinned by Chapter 2 of Part 10 of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this. The objective of the school meals programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, 2,600...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: When I announced the expansion, I was very keen that all special schools would be included. I am not all over the detail of St. Anne's special school but I would say to the school authorities to engage with the Department and have that conversation. If they could do that, we will see where it takes us. I am not over the specific detail there. What I want to do is try to make sure the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: The nutritional standards applying to the school meals programme were developed by a working group led by the health and well-being programme in the Department of Health in consultation with Safefood and the healthy eating and active living programme in the HSE. Schools and organisations must reapply for funding in advance of each school year and are required to submit detailed records. ...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I will increase the income disregards for carers and this will kick in next week. It will be increased. It is important that we do this. It is part of the budget and it is starting next week. The online service we are putting together is a new process. Online applications will be quicker than paper applications. It will be like the passport service. The online service is very quick, in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The social welfare appeals office is an office of the Department of Social Protection which is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in respect of social welfare entitlements. Appeals officers are independent in their decision-making functions. The office is currently finalising its annual report for 2023, with the data showing...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: To tell the truth, my constituency office staff also use the appeal line for TDs and representatives. We all deal with social welfare appeals in our constituency offices. What happens in the vast majority of cases, as we know, is that not all the medical information is provided at the start and the application is turned down. Once that happens, you are into review and appeals. The...