Results 301-320 of 430 for 5 million speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Anti-Poverty Strategy (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...is an absolute priority to improve those figures and to improve the lives of people in the coming years. As the Deputy said, consistent poverty stood at 8% in 2014. It is worth noting that in 2005, during the boom, it was 7%, so it is only 1% higher now than it was at a particular point in boom. This is not just about cash transfers. I attended a very good conference on child...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department estimates spending €500 million on the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme in 2016. The scheme supports over 41,000 recipients and almost 74,300 children. The figure quoted by St. Vincent de Paul is based on SILC data for 2014 indicating a basic deprivation rate for lone parents of 58.7%. This was a decrease of 4.5% on 2013. Research shows that being at work...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department will be spending an estimated €500 million on the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme in 2016. The scheme currently supports over 41,000 recipients and almost 74,300 children. The reforms to the one-parent family payment scheme were introduced to address long-term social welfare income support dependency. The reforms provide enhanced access to the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Paternity Leave (28 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...numbers that will take up paternity leave and paternity benefit. My Department estimates that it could be 30,000 to 40,000 fathers who will receive paternity benefit in a full year, at a cost of €20 million. This year, 2016, the payment is expected to cost the exchequer €5 million, which equates to one quarter of the expected full year cost.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement (28 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...child and family poverty and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment as compared to social welfare payments. Expenditure on FIS for 2016 is estimated to be of the order of €410 million and it is currently paid to some 56,000 families in respect of almost 123,000 children. As part of Budget 2016 Family Income Supplement income thresholds were increased by €5...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Treatment Benefit Scheme (28 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...(assuming the same level of customer applications as in 2009), would be as set out in the following table, allowing for the potential % increase in fees as suggested by the Deputy (shown in €millions): Scheme 2009* +5% +10% +15% Dental 62.3 65.4 68.5 71.6 Optical 17 17.9 18.7 19.6 Total 79.3 83.3 87.2 91.2 * (These figures represent payments for claims paid by the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Administration (23 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...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 624,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure in the order of over €2 billion in 2016. Child Benefit is an important source of income for all families and in Budget 2016 the Government...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement (23 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...with children. FIS is designed to prevent child and family poverty and offers a financial incentive to take-up employment as compared to other social welfare payments. There are currently over 56,000 families with more than 122,000 children in receipt of FIS. Expenditure on FIS is estimated to be of the order of €410 million in 2016. To qualify for FIS average weekly family...

Revised Estimates for Public Services 2016 (Resumed) (22 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...increases on qualified adult and reduced rates. In addition, all of those eligible for the fuel allowance, including jobseekers and people with disabilities, gained from the increase of €2.50 per week, from €20 to €22.50 per week over the fuel season. Funding for the free travel scheme, which benefits a large number of people with disabilities, carers and pensioners,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (21 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...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 624,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure in the order of over €2 billion in 2016. Child Benefit is an important source of income for all families and in Budget 2016 the Government...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme (14 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...Nos. 277, 279, 308, 317, 331 and 332 together. Supports in relation to housing and the provision of financial supports, such as the rent supplement scheme currently supporting in excess of 55,500 recipients at a cost of €267 million in 2016, are a key priority for Government and are being considered by the Cabinet Committee on Housing in the context of the Programme for Government...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (8 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...Questions Nos. 307 and 309 together. The cost of increasing the rates of Jobseeker's Allowance and Supplementary Welfare Allowance for those recipients under 26 years of age by €40 per week is €59 million in 2017 and a full year. This cost includes increasing the qualified adult rate to €124.80 per week. The cost of increasing the rate of the Qualified Child Increase...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Water Conservation Grant Eligibility (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The eligibility criteria for the Water Conservation Grant are set out in the Water Services Act 2014 (Water Conservation Grant) Regulations 2015. Under regulation 5(1) a person who registers with Irish Water, as required under section 5(2)(a) of the Water Services Act 2014, on or before 30 June 2015 shall be eligible to receive the grant in 2015 if they were normally resident at the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (31 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...Act 2011 provided for increases in the State pension age over a period of years. This process began in January 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) previously available at 65, thereby currently standardising State pension age for all at 66 years. The changes introduced in 2011 were on foot of a Government commitment included in the National Recovery Plan published in...

Other Questions: Child Benefit Eligibility (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education or who have a physical or mental disability. It is currently paid to around 623,000 families for 1.2 million children with an estimated spend of over €2 billion by my Department this year. Child benefit is an important source of income for families and in Budget 2016, the Government...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ..., estimate that inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, will be 1.7% in 2017. The cost of a 1.7% increase across all working age payments, based on 2016 recipient numbers, is €138 million in a full year. A €1 per week increase in all weekly welfare payments costs €74.6 million in a full year while a €1 per week increase in all working age payments...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Administration (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2016 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of almost €85 million on the farm assist scheme. Changes introduced in Budgets 2012 and 2013 brought farm assist into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2016 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of almost €85 million on the farm assist scheme. Changes introduced in Budgets 2012 and 2013 brought farm assist into closer alignment with the jobseeker’s allowance scheme’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Payments (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department will be spending an estimated €500 million on the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme in 2016. The scheme currently supports over 41,000 recipients and almost 74,500 children. The reforms to the OFP scheme were introduced to address long-term social welfare income support dependency. The reforms provide enhanced access to the Department’s Intreo service...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Data (25 May 2016)

Leo Varadkar: ...the relevant medical criteria). The estimated cost in 2017 (and a full year) of increasing the weekly personal rate of Disability Allowance by €20, from €188 to €208 per week, is €131.2 million. Each €1 increase in the weekly personal rate would cost €6.6 million in 2017 and a full year. There is an analogous social insurance payment,...