Results 18,861-18,880 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department provides a range of activation supports and programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. This includes programmes such as Tús and Community Employment (CE). As the Deputy will be aware, both of these schemes provide part-time temporary work for participants in local communities as a stepping-stone back to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Department sets down eligibility criteria for participation on employment schemes so as to ensure that opportunities to avail of activation measures are managed effectively. The maximum duration of participation available on Community Employment (CE) is determined having regard to a range of factors including the age and signing record at date of commencement on the scheme. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Eligibility (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned is in receipt of invalidity pension and qualifies for free travel in his own right. However, to qualify for a free travel companion pass, he must be medically assessed as unfit to travel alone as well as satisfying the other qualifying conditions of the scheme. The person concerned applied for the companion pass in February 2017. The application was submitted to a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) Appeals (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there is no record of an appeal on behalf of the estate of the deceased person concerned. In general, an appeal should be submitted within 21 working days of the Deciding Officer’s decision. In light of ongoing correspondence between the executor of the estate of the deceased person concerned and the State Pension (Non...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Schemes (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Data on the number of participants in job activation programmes is reported monthly by programme by the Central Statistics Office. Table 1 gives the number of persons on activation programmes under the remit of my Department in each January from 2012 to 2017. Table 1: Numbers on DSP Activation Programmes as at January, 2012 to 2017 2012 M01 2013 M01 2014 M01 2015 M01 2016 M01 2017 M01...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Data (28 Mar 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 around 627,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) grant payable by the Department of Education and Skills represents the primary support for persons pursuing Post Leaving Certificate Courses (PLCs) and higher education undergraduate courses. My Department administers the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) scheme which is an educational opportunities scheme for persons in receipt of certain...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit people who are long-term on the live register and those transitioning into employment. It provides employers with two levels of payment - €7,500 or €10,000 over two years, paid in monthly instalments, provided the employment is maintained. The rate of payment depends on the length of time the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Insurance Costs (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department does not take out insurance policies but pays out compensation where necessary. Accordingly, there are no insurance claims against my Department. In cases where a person takes a personal injury claim against the Department, this is handled by the State Claims Agency. The Pensions Authority, Pensions Ombudsman, Pensions Council and Social Welfare Tribunal have no insurance...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Citizen Information Services (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Citizens Information Board (CIB), which has statutory responsibility for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and the Citizens Information Services (CIS) decided, on 15 February 2017, to restructure the governance arrangements of these services. The decision was communicated by the Board of CIB to all CIS and MABS Boards and to all staff on the same day. The CIB assures me that...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Unemployment Data (28 Mar 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 as possible of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register. To date, these...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Support Grant (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The appeal of the person concerned against the decision to refuse her claim for Carer’s Support Grant was successful. An amount of €1,700, in respect of the 2016 Carer’s Support Grant, was lodged to her nominated bank account on Thursday 23 March 2017.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeals from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to hold an oral hearing in this case on 11 April 2017. The person concerned has been notified of the arrangements for the hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Appeals (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In order to qualify for Family Income Supplement (FIS) a person must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee for at least 38 hours per fortnight (19 hours per week). Following an application for FIS on 10 March, 2016, from the person concerned, a file was sent to a Social Welfare Inspector (SWI) on 11 May, 2016, for further investigation, but from the information...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 12 January 2017. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers have been received in the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: An application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 24 January 2017. The application was awarded to the person concerned on 23 March 2017 and the first payment issued to their nominated post office on 30 March 2017. Arrears of allowance due from 27 January 2017 to 29 March 2017 have also issued. The person concerned was notified on 23 March 2017 of this...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to 378,000 low income households to assist them with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. My Department also pays an electricity or gas...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Data (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to 378,000 low income households to assist them with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. The fuel allowance is a means tested payment,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Provision (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The legislation governing the issuance of a Public Services Card is contained in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended. Section 263(1) states – “The Minister may, subject to subsection (1C), issue a card (in this Act referred to as a ‘public services card’) to a person in such form as the Minister considers fit for the purposes of carrying out a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Eligibility (28 Mar 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Department operates a range of means tested social assistance payments, including farm assist. Social welfare legislation provides that the means test takes account of the income and assets of the person (and spouse/partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant payment. Income and assets include income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions, maintenance payments as...