Results 19,881-19,900 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the committee for allowing me to present the Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Social Protection. I am seeking a Supplementary Estimate of €109 million for 2016. The purpose of this additional Estimate is to fund the Christmas bonus, which is being paid to Vote 37 for social assistance recipients this week. Overall, the Christmas bonus is estimated to cost...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I identify with Deputy Bailey regarding the fanfare. I have not been involved in a fanfare; I have always been clear that the priority of this budget was to be prudent. It was not a giveaway budget either in terms of welfare increases or tax cuts. It was a prudent budget designed to reduce the deficit and make sure the mistakes of the past are not repeated. Any changes will be modest. On...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: That is the Deputy's opinion.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We can never engage, unfortunately, with Deputy Brady interrupting me. It is something I have-----

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is. We can have a conversation or debate without always having to interrupt people. It is just basic manners. Opinion is not fact. If somebody works a 40-hour week on the minimum wage in Ireland, it is almost €400 per week and the CE programme pays less than €200. Somebody on the minimum wage in Ireland working 30 hours per week is better off than somebody on CE so why...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Mitchell asked how many applications for carer's allowance have been successful. My staff will check that and I shall supply the answer to her at the end of this session. The rising cost indicates that the number of successful applicants has increased. To date, 145 complaints have been made to the Department about JobPath. That is out of 60,000 referrals. It is important to...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is a different amount and depends on how long a person stays in a job. The first payment is 13 weeks and after that it is 26 weeks. The companies do not get paid if people only hold down jobs for a few weeks. The companies are paid more depending on how long people remain in jobs. They would be pretty foolish to put people into jobs in which they will not last three months because that...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: -----adopt budgets that allow managers to hire more outdoor staff so that people can have the good, pensionable, well-paid and unionised jobs to which the Deputy referred. I particularly encourage Sinn Féin to do this in Dublin city. On Gateway and supplies to any scheme, the initiative often gives somebody something to do every day and a bit of work experience. One will have...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We can do that.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Sector Staff (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Temporary Clerical Officers (TCOs) are recruited by my Department to provide cover for a wide range of purposes such as staff absences on maternity or sick leave or to assist with specific projects that may be undertaken by the Department from time to time. The use of TCOs by this Department is always in accordance with Civil Service General Council Report 1323. All TCOs are recruited on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Applications (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: An application for family income supplement (FIS) was received by the person concerned on 27thSeptember 2016. However, the person concerned was in receipt of jobseeker’s transitional payment (JST) at the time of application. As FIS is not payable while on JST, the person concerned was advised by the department on the 4thNovember 2016 that it would be to their financial benefit to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobsPlus Scheme (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The JobsPlus incentive provides for a direct monthly payment to employers who recruit employees from the Live Register. It provides 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 person recruited was unemployed. In order to be considered...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Schemes (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Tús is an employment programme that aims to help people who are long-term unemployed to re-enter the workforce. The programme helps to break the cycle of unemployment by providing a return to a regular work routine, thereby improving a person’s chances of returning to the open labour market. My Department is very conscious of the valuable contribution this scheme makes, both in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Waiting days have been a long standing feature of the jobseeker’s schemes and are a feature of similar social security schemes in many countries. The application of a three-day waiting period avoids the disproportionately high administrative costs involved in processing large numbers of claims of a very short duration. The waiting day rule is not applied in every case. For instance,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Eligibility (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2016 Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €2.8 billion. Jobseeker’s allowance is a social assistance means tested payment. Jobseeker's...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Medical Aids and Appliances Provision (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Eligibility for medical appliance benefit is based on a person’s PRSI record. To qualify, a customer must have, 1. 260 Class A/E/H or P PRSI contributions paid since first starting work, and 2. 39 such contributions paid or credited in the tax year on which the claim is based. According to our records, the customer in question has paid Class S contributions, and therefore is not...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: An application for Carer's Allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 10 June 2016. It is a condition for receipt of a CA that the person being cared for must have a disability whose effect is that they require full-time care and attention. This is defined as requiring from another person, continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Rent Supplement payment for the client concerned is due to be released today. Rent supplement for this client will be paid out on the last Tuesday of every month. I trust that this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance (1 Dec 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The person concerned was in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance pending the processing of a jobseekers allowance application. The person concerned did not disclose that she was in receipt of carers allowance at the maximum rate. Under the provisions of the carers allowance scheme, jobseekers allowance cannot be paid concurrently. An application for the one parent family payment in...