Results 18,621-18,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Labour Activation Projects (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the experience of JobPath to date has been very positive. The most recent unemployment figures from the CSO show that the monthly unemployment rate in March 2017 stands at 6.4%. This is a decrease from 8.3% in March 2016 and 9.9% in March 2015, which is a decline of 3.5 percentage points in the past year. In addition, the CSO's quarterly...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Labour Activation Projects (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The preference of the Department absolutely is jobs first. The first thing we should try and get for somebody is a regular job as opposed to being on a scheme. A regular job is better paid, has the prospects of promotion and means that one is working and paying tax rather than being on a scheme, which means that the taxpayer has to pick up the bill and which will end. Of course, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Labour Activation Projects (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I have already told the Deputy what reviews are being done and I have also explained to him that the contract runs until the end of 2019 regardless of any reviews. We would only consider cancelling the contract if the contract was breached and it certainly has not been breached. The customer satisfaction survey and the outcome results that show how many participants are moving into...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Citizen Information Services (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am assured by the Citizens Information Board that its decision to restructure the governance arrangements of its delivery partners will not impact negatively on the front-line services they provide. The changes will be at board level only and no closures or changes will occur at local delivery points. In fact, the ultimate aim of the board is to improve and expand the local delivery of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Citizen Information Services (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Absolutely. I would like to allay the concerns of staff and volunteers in my discussions with the chairman of the board and the CEO. I have been assured on a number of occasions that all the local services and local offices will be protected, as will the positions of staff. I do not subscribe to the view that there has to be an independent company with its own board in every local area in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Administration (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 43, 50 and 70 together. As the Deputies are aware, my Department provides a range of activation supports and programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. These include programmes such as Community Employment (CE) and Tús. These schemes provide part-time temporary work in local...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: An interdepartmental working group, comprising officials from the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners, has been examining the issue of disguised or bogus self-employment. To inform the work of the group, a public consultation on the use of intermediary-type employment structures and self-employment arrangements and their impact on tax...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 86 together. Community Employment (CE) Supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector. The period for which a CE Sponsor contracts with the Supervisor is, therefore, a matter between those two parties. In general, it is important that supervisor contracts reflect that the positions are subject to continued...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Protection Entitlements (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Maternity leave is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality. Maternity Benefit is paid by my Department for the duration of statutory maternity leave and is based on payment of PRSI contributions while working. The current entitlement to maternity leave is 26 weeks paid with 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave also available. The Programme for Government...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The current rate bands applying to the State pension (contributory) were introduced from September 2012, replacing the rates introduced in 2000. The new rate bands reflect the social insurance contributions history of a person more closely, although alternative payments are available for those with small additional means. It is estimated that to revert to the previous bands would cost at...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Administration (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department provides a range of activation supports catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. These supports include the JobPath service and employment programmes such as the Community Employment (CE) scheme and Tús. It is worth highlighting that CE and Tús have always been outsourced to private...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Support Services (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In Ireland, people with disabilities of working age are only half as likely to be in work as their non-disabled peers. Employment is central to independence and social integration and offers the best protection against poverty. This Government is committed to helping more people with disabilities to enter the workforce and move from welfare to work. My Department provides a wide range of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Citizen Information Services (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The board of Citizens Information Board (CIB) wants to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and responsiveness of its services. It aims to do this by restructuring the governance arrangements from 93 local company boards to a reduced 16 regional company board model. This will allow resources to be redirected from the current heavy administrative burden to front line service delivery. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 87 together. Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting 44,800 recipients at a cost of €253 million in 2017. Rent supplement is a statutory means tested scheme which is payable at differentiated rates of payment taking into account the applicant’s means and their...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The speech referred to was made, not by me, but by my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Pascal O’Donohue. In his speech, Minister Donohue did not outline plans for a basic income. Rather, speaking in the context of possibletotal displacement of labour from large parts of the economy (by advances in robotics), the Minister included the concept of a basic income...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The social insurance fund (SIF) had a surplus of €453 million in 2016. It should be noted that as a result of demographic pressures, expenditure on pensions increases by approximately €1 billion every five years, and this is without taking account of any rate increases. An Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund is currently being carried out, which will assess the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Provision (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: To date, my Department has issued over 2.5 million Public Services Cards (PSC) and it is the Department’s intention, with the assistance of increased demand from other public bodies, to issue a further 500,000 by the end of 2017. The issuance of PSCs is part of a large, complex, multi-year project called SAFE. The project aims to provide all public bodies with a substantial level...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Authentication (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In conjunction with a number of other Government Departments a rules based standard for establishing and authenticating an individual’s identity for the purposes of access to public services called SAFE was developed in the early-mid 2000s. SAFE registration, based primarily on a face-to-face engagement, is the most robust identity registration process in the State and consequently...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Redeployment (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: 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 staff numbers. The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (11 Apr 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I gave a commitment at Dáil report stage of the Social Welfare Bill 2016 that I would ask my officials to examine the issue of jobseeker’s benefit and the treatment of part-time and seasonal workers, including those categorised as having subsidiary employment. As a result, my Department is currently undertaking two reports – one in relation to the subsidiary employment...