Results 18,601-18,620 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Seanad: Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: It does not exist.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I was not out in the airport-----

Seanad: Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: -----and I have no intention of going there. We need to put this issue into perspective. Social welfare staff paid the pandemic unemployment payment to more than 600,000 people. They did it by way of a one-page online application. The normal checks did not apply. They did not have face-to-face meetings. They did not have those normal checks. The payment was introduced quickly, as the...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: This regulation relates to the PUP. We are putting the PUP on the same footing as jobseeker's payments. That is the statutory instrument's purpose.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Senators for their contributions and their co-operation in passing this Bill.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The scheme opened to new applicants on 6 July 2020. To date, a further 21,500 applications have been received. Payments of €1.25 million have already been made to 2,900 families in respect of 6,200 qualified children from the applications received to date. Anybody can apply for the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance on-line at www.welfare.ie. To apply online they must...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputies for these questions. I propose to take Questions Nos. 31 and 47 together. The enterprise support grant is being extended to assist eligible self-employed individuals who are exiting the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment or jobseeker's schemes after 25 June 2020 to restart their business which was closed due to the impact of the pandemic. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: Officials from my Department are currently developing the systems and the application process for this grant. Applicants will be asked to send their application form to their local Intreo centre to be processed for payment. Details on applying for the grant will be released early in August along with the grant application form. All details on the grant will be available on www.gov.ie.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pensions Reform (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Compared with other countries in the OECD, the proportion of employees in Ireland with supplementary pension cover is low, with just over 50% of the working population having an occupational or personal pension.  This rate reduces to 35% when the private sector is considered in isolation.  As a consequence of this low supplementary...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pensions Reform (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: A Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023 provided for the development and implementation of the auto-enrolment retirement scheme by 2022. 12 o’clock This Government recognises the exceptional strain that both employers and employees are now under as a result of the Covid-19 emergency. The Government will, therefore, seek to gradually deliver the AE scheme, which will include a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Allowance (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I hear what the Deputy is saying. There are disregards there, as I have pointed out. The first €50,000 of the €100,000 is disregarded and the next amount is done on a sliding scale. The disability allowance covers a wide range of recipients. I will have to speak to my officials about this. I take the point the Deputy is making. The matter would need a fairly in-depth...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Allowance (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I am happy to talk to the Deputy about this issue. I take the point. There are always going to be cases and it is important that we look at the system to make sure we are not leaving anybody out or causing difficulties for people. Would the Acting Chairman mind if I made a short statement to the House on the pandemic unemployment payment, with the permission of Deputy Carroll MacNeill?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Allowance (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Acting Chairman. The pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, was introduced to support people who lost their jobs overnight as a result of Covid-19. It was a solidarity payment to protect people's income at a time of national crisis. I strongly believe that any person who breached that solidarity by claiming a payment they were not entitled to because they were no longer living in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. This year, the eligibility criteria for back to school clothing and footwear allowance have been extended to include the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment as a qualifying payment for the allowance. Recipients of this payment will also need to satisfy all the other qualifying conditions to qualify. The back to school clothing and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The Deputy and I have worked on a number of issues to which we got very satisfactory resolutions. I am happy to go through these schemes with him. He will be able to give me valuable information. I want to work with people on examining issues and, where possible, improving them.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am conscious that the Covid-19 public health restrictions have added to the strain on all parents, and lone parents in particular. While my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, has lead responsibility for maintenance issues, my Department has moved swiftly to address issues that have been raised regarding maintenance for lone parents...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: There will be a North-South Ministerial Council meeting on Friday and I will be happy to hear from my counterpart in Northern Ireland as to how its child maintenance agency works. I thank the Deputy for that suggestion. This is a complex issue. As the Deputy knows, parents have a responsibility to pay maintenance for their children. However, some do not pay. I saw that at first hand...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: The review group will examine the treatment within the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection of child maintenance payments, the current provisions relating to liable relatives regarding child maintenance, and the establishment of a child maintenance agency. There are very experienced people on the group and I look forward to receiving their report in due course.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Allowance (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The system of social assistance supports provides payments based on an income need. The means test plays a critical role in determining whether an income need arises as a consequence of a particular contingency such as disability, unemployment or caring. This ensures that the recipient has a verifiable income need and that resources are targeted...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Farm Assist Scheme (29 Jul 2020)

Heather Humphreys: I would be happy to examine this matter with Deputies Smith and Ó Cuív to try to find a resolution for this particular group of people. As I said, I am new to the job. Sometimes decisions made in one area can have unintended consequences in other areas. I will arrange the meeting as soon as we can. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.