Results 19,321-19,340 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy will be aware that over the last number of decades and especially during the financial crisis the decline of defined benefit pension sector has accelerated significantly. In fact most employers that currently have a defined benefit scheme also operate a parallel defined contribution scheme. Neither I as Minister for Social Protection nor the Pensions Authority are empowered...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The rent supplement scheme plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme currently supporting approximately 47,100 tenants for which the Government has provided €253 million for in 2017. Rent supplement customer numbers have declined by some 23,700 during the two years commencing January, 2015 (70,800) and ending January, 2017 (47,100) representing a 33%...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: JobBridge was introduced in July 2011 in response to the unprecedented collapse of our economy and particularly the sharp and dramatic increase in unemployment. A robust external evaluation of the scheme recommended that it should be replaced with a new work experience programme that is better suited to the much-improved labour market and addresses some criticisms of the current scheme....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to remember that the planned restructuring of services is at local company board level only. The implementation of restructured governance arrangements, on completion of this process, will not result in any diminution of locally-provided services, nor in the closure of any service delivery locations, nor result in any staff redundancies. As the Deputy is aware, the plan to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: An application for maternity benefit by the person concerned was refused on the grounds that she was not in insurable employment at the time of her application. In order to qualify for payment of maternity benefit, in addition to meeting the PRSI contribution condition for the tax year relevant to the claim the person concerned must also be in insurable employment that is covered by the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is a condition for receipt of carer’s allowance (CA) that the carer must be providing full-time care and attention to a person requiring that level of care. CA claims are reviewed periodically to ensure continued entitlement. CA was in payment to the person concerned from 22 January 2015 and a review was carried out in 2016. As part of that review the matter was referred to a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The youth unemployment statistics quoted for the Limerick electoral divisions relate to 2011, and are drawn from the Census carried out in that year. Strictly comparable data will be available only when the full small-area results of Census 2016 are published. However, an indication of trends in youth unemployment in Limerick since 2011 is available from the Live Register. The number of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Gateway is a work placement scheme designed to provide short-term work opportunities for unemployed people in Local Authorities. The scheme commenced in December 2013. To be eligible to participate on Gateway, a person must have been continuously unemployed for at least 24 months and receiving a jobseeker's allowance payment. Participants benefit by improving their work readiness and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit (14 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am informed that at the end of January there were 9,835 persons in receipt of Jobseeker's Benefit in the Dublin area. A breakdown of this number by office is given in the following tabular statement. It should be noted that the number of people in receipt of a jobseeker’s benefit payment payment at the offices below is calculated based on the offices’ catchment areas, some of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 130 together. The table shows the number of applications received and the number of applications disallowed for carer's allowance (CA), disability allowance (DA), domiciliary care allowance (DCA), invalidity pensions (INVP) and illness benefit (IB) in 2016. The grounds for disallowing an application for one of these schemes include a failure to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 131 and 132 together. The table provides the details which have been requested by the Deputy in relation to appeal receipts and successful appeal outcomes during 2016 for carer's allowance, disability allowance, domiciliary care allowance, invalidity pension and illness benefit. The number of carer’s allowance appeals received during 2016 (3,887)...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Ministerial Meetings (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I met with the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Right Hon. Damian Green, M.P. on Thursday, 2nd February 2017 to discuss two main issues, namely: 1. Information exchange on the UK’s welfare reforms with regard to pensions, working age and also illness payments; and 2. The social protection implications of the vote by the UK to leave the EU. Social security...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Poverty Data (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 2015 shows that the consistent poverty rate for lone parent households is 26.2%, up from 25% in 2014. The deprivation rate for lone parent households fell from 58.7 per cent in 2014 to 57.9% in 2015. The at-risk-of-poverty rate for lone parent households is largely unchanged in 2015 at 36.2%, compared to 36.5% in 2014. The full...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Poverty Data (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Eurostat data, based on the latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 2015, shows that Ireland has one of the lowest in-work poverty rates among the EU-28 member states. The EU average is 9.5%. Ireland ranks 4th lowest with a rate of 4.8%. The full impact of the recovery is not reflected in these 2015 figures. Macro-economic and labour market indicators have shown...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Poverty Impact Assessment (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 2015 shows that the at-risk-of-poverty threshold – 60% of the median income for all households – in 2015 was €230 per week for a single person, compared with €217 in 2014. This reflects the rise in real median disposable income of 6.2% in 2015, driven by employment growth and the safeguarding of social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: During the debate on the Social Welfare (SW) Bill 2016, I agreed that my Department would commission an independent report on the OFP reforms to examine the financial and social effects of the amendments to the scheme made since 1 January 2012, taking into account the poverty rates and welfare dependency of those impacted by the reforms. This is now in legislation. I am committed to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The CSO’s latest monthly unemployment figures reports that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for persons aged 15-24 years (youth unemployment rate) was 13.5% in January 2017, a decrease from 14.4% in December 2016. This is a significant decrease of almost 5 percentage points, from 18.1%, in the past 12 months. The overall unemployment rate has fallen by 1.4 percentage points...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Work Allowance Applications (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: A copy of the decision, and reason for same, in respect of the back to work allowance application made by the person concerned was issued to him by post on 31st January 2017. He has since been in contact with his case officer who will continue to work with him in relation to possible options. I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Data (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is responsible for making statutory decisions on insurability of employment under the Social Welfare Act. In this regard, employers, employees and the self-employed may apply, where there is doubt, to have an employment or self-employment status investigated and the correct class of pay-related social insurance (PRSI) determined. Scope decisions are based on all of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Relations Contracts Data (9 Feb 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is not possible to provide the information within the timeframe required. The information requested by the Deputy is being compiled by my officials and will be sent to the Deputy when it is finalised.