Results 1-20 of 39 for 5 million speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...inflated due to the returns on the build-to-rent and co-living schemes. In case the Minister of State does not understand the financial model of the build-to-rent scheme, it offers an approximate 5% return on an annual basis over 15 years, taxed at 20%, plus capital appreciation. The financial model for co-living student accommodation and the build-to-rent scheme has taken out the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Graffiti Policy (3 Apr 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...the problem. The only thing I ask the Minister of State is to reconsider and talk about the issue within his Department and with the Taoiseach to see if we could have even a small fund of, say, €5 million that would be matched by local government to deal with graffiti. I am not asking him to give me a "Yes" or a "No" answer; rather, I am asking him to reconsider the matter and...

Seanad: Housing Provision: Statements (30 Jan 2019)

Kevin Humphreys: ...and looked forward to the apartments coming to the market. That project, which comprised 120 apartments, never came to the housing market because it was purchased by an investment fund for €101 million, with the price paid for some of the units above market value. This led to me to other research which shows that 2,000 apartments were completed in the Dublin area in 2018. The...

Seanad: Proposed Sale of AIB Shares: Statements (31 May 2017)

Kevin Humphreys: ..., the joke is on the citizens of Ireland. A sum of €20.9 billion was put into AIB to recapitalise it. That is clearly where the joke is at the moment. I certainly do not support the sale of 25% of the shares. Questions need to be asked and identified. I would like to see the fees being paid to Rothschild and the other advisers in respect of the sale of this 25% being clearly...

Seanad: Social Protection: Statements (12 Jul 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: ...the Department of Social Protection a very interesting Department. In his opening contribution, he said he was interested in people's suggestions. His budget is about €20 billion, and about €35 billion has been spent so far based on the suggestions made here. Social welfare payment rates have been quite static due to the recession. It was always the intention to reinstate...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: National Maternity Hospital (15 Jun 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I do not believe that at any stage the Government or the HSE would have spent €5 million of taxpayers' money in preparing planning applications and doing the research that is needed to base the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park. I am deeply disappointed and frustrated that this problem was raised at a very late stage. The plans should have been lodged at the end of the second...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (2 Feb 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 104, 106, 131 and 135 together. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is the lead Department for severe weather emergencies and the Office of Public Works (OPW) has responsibility for capital flood relief activities. However, the Department of Social Protection has an important role to play in assisting households in the immediate...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Expenditure (26 Jan 2016)

Kevin Humphreys: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 61,000 people for which the Government has provided approximately €267 million for 2016. Recent analysis shows that increasing the current rent limits by 5% would result in a full year cost in excess of €15 million; a 10% increase would carry a cost of almost...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (17 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: .... Others are in community-based employment programmes such as CE, Gateway and Tus, or through the JobsPlus employment subsidy for private employment. Overall, the Youth Guarantee provided nearly 25,000 places for young people in 2014. This figure excludes some 24,000 places provided for young people through PLC courses and apprenticeships. These PLC and apprenticeship places, together...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (8 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 62,000 people at a cost of €298 million in 2015. The provision for 2015 represents a transfer of funding in excess of €20 million to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to support the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). A review of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: School Meals Programme (8 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,700 schools and organisations which benefits approximately 217,000 children at a total cost of €39 million. An additional €3 million was allocated to the programme as part of Budget 2016, bringing the total allocation to €42 million in 2016. The Department initiated an inspection...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (1 Dec 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: From January to the end of October 2015, approximately 30,000 people have benefitted from a Community Employment (CE) place, of which 23,876 are currently engaged in around 1,000 separate schemes throughout the country. The budget for CE for 2015 is €373.3 million. Significant improvements have been made to the operation and governance of CE since 2012 and these continue in 2015....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Payments (26 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: ...payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €27.9 million for the ENP scheme in 2015. An application can be made under the ENP scheme for assistance with funeral and burial expenses. An ENP is a means tested payment payable at the discretion...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: ...that circumstances are getting better. There is also an increase of €2 a week for adult dependants aged under 66 years and an increase of €2.70 for adult dependants aged 66 or over. This will benefit 583,000 pensioners and more than 93,000 qualified adults and is the first weekly rate increase for pensioners since 2009. That is important because they have been without an...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: ...telling us we would need another bailout, unemployment would continue to shoot up and we would not see employment figures like we are seeing now.They were not talking about an unemployment rate of 15% - 15.1% was the rate it topped out at - but of a rate of 20%. I always enjoy Senator Mooney's contributions. They can be a mixture of constructive criticism and downright criticism. The...

Social Welfare Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Nov 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: ...but I will not go down that road. Most economists said we would still be in a bailout last year and making corrections of another €1 billion in this budget. This Labour-Fine Gael budget has put €1.5 billion back into the economy, which has been welcomed by many. The social welfare budget is built on the foundations of the recovery. It has four key aims, namely, to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (1 Oct 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 48 together. Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 65,000 people at a cost of €298 million in 2015. Over 13,700 rent supplement tenancies have been awarded this year showing that significant numbers are being accommodated under the scheme. A review of the rent...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (24 Sep 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: .... The main purpose of the scheme is to provide immediate and flexible assistance for those in need who do not qualify for payment under other State schemes. The Government has provided over €70 million for basic SWA in 2015. There are currently approximately 16,800 basic SWA recipients, of which 587 are based in County Louth. Under the SWA scheme a heating supplement may be paid...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (22 Sep 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme currently supporting approximately 65,000 people at a cost of over €298 million in 2015. Under the National Tenancy Sustainment Framework each tenant’s circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis, and rents are being increased above prescribed limits as appropriate. Community Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (16 Jul 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55, 56, 64, 104 and 120 together. Rent supplement plays a vital role in supporting approximately 67,000 families and individuals at a cost of €298 million. Details of rent supplement recipients and expenditure each year since 2008 is provided in the attached tabular statement. Information on rent supplement expenditure by county is not available. A...