Results 18,401-18,420 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 736 and 742 together. Under the July Stimulus the Back To Education Allowance has been extended to people who have been in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. The Department's Back to Education Allowance provides income support for people who wish to pursue second or third level courses. In advance of commencing a course of education or training,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: In advance of commencing a course of education, a person in receipt of Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) is required to establish an entitlement to a qualifying social welfare weekly payment, generally a Jobseeker’s payment, to access a Back to Education Allowance (BTEA). A person will then be required to transfer from PUP to the relevant qualifying social welfare scheme to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The COVID 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment was introduced in March 2020 as a time-limited emergency measure to meet the surge in unemployment which resulted from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. To be eligible for this payment a person must have been in employment /self-employment immediately prior to 13th March 2020 and have become fully unemployed or suffered a collapse of income if...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Requests for extending participants on Community Employment Schemes are only considered by the Department at the request of the Project Sponsor and a request for an extension has not been received in respect of the person concerned. Work Schemes such as Community Employment (CE) are labour market programmes that enable long-term unemployed people to progress into employment and/or further...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Data Protection (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 740 and 741 together. JobPath is an employment activation service that supports people who are long-term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. The service is delivered by two companies, Seetec and Turas Nua. Information is shared by my Department with the JobPath providers to enable...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: 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, until their 18th birthday, who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child benefit is currently paid, as of end-July 2020, to over 637,793 families in respect of over 1.2 million children....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals whose Public Services Cards (PSCs) were expiring in the following three months were written to by the Department advising them that they could renew their PSC by attending an office of the Department and having a new photograph taken, or by applying for a renewal by post, by sending a passport-size photograph. In the context of the Covid19 pandemic,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Without having knowledge of the circumstances of the person concerned, it is not possible to provide information on his social welfare entitlements. It is open to the person concerned to contact the Clondalkin Intreo Centre to discuss his situation at (01) 4030000, (01) 4667200, SWLOClondalkin@welfare.ie. Information about my Department’s schemes and services, including qualifying...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: For the month of June 2020 a total of 8,785 people working in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector were in receipt of at least one pandemic unemployment payment at the standard rate of €350. The most recent figures for September 1st 2020 show that 5,032 people from this sector were still receiving this payment, with 1,486 people receiving the lower rate of €203 and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Fuel Allowance is a seasonal payment for 28 weeks, from October to April, to help low income households with their heating costs. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. Fuel allowance expenditure and recipient numbers for the past 5 years are: Year 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The free travel scheme is available to those who live permanently and legally in the State and are over age 66, or are under age 66 and in receipt of certain qualifying payments. As at 4 September 2020, there were forty (40) free travel applications waiting to be processed. The current average turnaround time for free travel applications is less than 1 week. The SAFE registration...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm that my Department has allocated a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) to the individual referred to by the Deputy and a letter advising her of her PPSN issued on 7th September 2020. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm that my Department has allocated Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) to the two individuals referred to by the Deputy and letters advising them of their PPSNs issued on 28th July 2020 and 2nd September 2020 respectively. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Community Employment (CE) is a positive initiative that enables the long-term unemployed to contribute to their communities whilst up-skilling themselves for prospective future employment. It helps to break the cycle of unemployment and improve a person’s chances of returning to the labour market. In early 2019, the Government agreed to establish an Interdepartmental Group (IDG) to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Reports (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: My Department's focus is on ensuring that the State provides the appropriate employment services to assist in attaining sustainable employment. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 my Department engaged external consultants to review all current contracted public employment services. The consultant's review of contracted Public Employment Services is currently being finalised. In accordance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 754 to 757, inclusive, together. All social welfare schemes are subject to control and compliance checks in order to ensure that the Exchequer resources provided for those schemes are protected. The pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) scheme is subject to conditionality, in particular the requirement to be resident in Ireland to receive the payment under the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance (8 Sep 2020)

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. I confirm that my department received an application for CA from the person concerned on 8 July 2019. The application was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The person concerned is in receipt of disability allowance (DA) since 15 October 2002. Following a review of his entitlement in August 2018 it was found that he had means from employment not previously disclosed to the Department. Based on his earnings, it was decided that this gentleman was entitled to a lower rate of DA than the rate he had received resulting in an overpayment. Accordingly,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy will be aware, I have asked my officials to amend the regulations so that people on jobseeker's payments who wish to travel to any of the countries on the green list can do so and continue to receive their payment. For countries that are not on the green list, persons can travel for essential reasons only. For example, if someone is going to a non-green list country, it must be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Offices (8 Sep 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The State property portfolio is managed by the OPW, with accommodation allocated to Departments based on business and operational needs. I am advised that the vacancy rate across OPW's office portfolio, including this Department, is of the order of 1%. My Department has more than 6,500 staff operating in 221 locations, including 13 main offices and 75 Intreo Centres. Although all...