Results 81-100 of 157 for 5 million speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance Fund Data (29 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The issue of extending additional social insurance benefits to the self-employed paying class S PRSI was considered in the Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance fund (SIF) as at 31 December, 2015, which I published on 18 October 2017. The review, required by legislation, was carried out by independent consultants, KPMG. It examines the projected income and expenditure of the SIF over the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Data (29 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...of increases to the earnings disregard, in particular any potential inflows into the scheme. Increase OFP earnings disregard by: Approximate cost to the Exchequer in a full year €5 a week (to €135 a week) €1.4 million €10 a week (to €140 a week) €2.9 million €15 a week (to €145 a week) €4.3 million €20 a week (to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions Payments (29 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...2011 provided that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) which was available to people aged 65 who satisfied the qualifying conditions. This measure standardised the State pension age for all at 66 years. This will increase to 67 in 2021 and to 68 in 2028. We are all aware that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Data (29 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...based on the payment of PRSI contributions while working. The current entitlement to paid maternity leave is 26 weeks. The 2018 estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of nearly €264 million. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of maternity benefit is approximately €9.6 million for each extra week, at the rate of €240 per week. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Paternity Benefit (29 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...and covered by . It is paid for 2 weeks and is available for any child born or adopted on or after 1 September 2016. The 2018 Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of nearly €16 million. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of paternity benefit is approximately €5.2 million for each extra week. The table below estimates the additional cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Unemployment Data (29 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: According to the Eurostat Labour Force Survey, in 2016 there were 170.76 million households in the EU (excluding households composed solely of students or solely of inactive people aged 65 and over). Of these, some 29.49 million households (17.3% of the total) were jobless - that is, no adult in the household was working. For Ireland, the total number of relevant households was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (29 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2018 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of approximately €74.1 million on the farm assist scheme. Budget 2017 fully reversed the previous cuts to the Farm Assist means test. The changes included that 70% of farm income is now assessed as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Payments (27 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...the electricity/gas allowance (€35 per month) and the free television licence scheme (€160 per annum). At present, it is paid to some 436,000 customers, with expenditure estimated at €237 million for 2018. The package is generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance Rates (14 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: Self-employed workers who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. This provides them with access to the following benefits: State pension (contributory) and widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s pension (contributory), guardian’s payment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Data (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...year and assume that any increase in duration is implemented from the beginning of the year. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of maternity benefit is approximately €9.6 million for each extra week, at the rate of €240 per week. It should be noted that Budget 2018 provides for the rate of maternity benefit to be increased by €5 per week from 26...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Paternity Benefit (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...scheme on 1 September 2016, 32,784 paternity benefit claims have been awarded to 31 December 2017. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of paternity benefit is approximately €5.2 million for each extra week. The following table estimates the additional cost of increasing the duration of paternity benefit above its current 2 week duration at a weekly rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Poverty Data (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...on social protection. In 2018, expenditure on illness, disability and carers payments will amount to over €3.9 billion or almost one fifth of the total Departmental spend. This includes a €5 per week increase in the maximum weekly rate for recipients of disability allowance, invalidity pension and carer’s allowance, with proportionate increases for adult dependents...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Unemployment Levels (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The official measure of unemployment is sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). The most recent data show that unemployment has fallen from a peak of 15% in 2012 to 6.2% by mid-2017. Numbers at work have increased from just over 1.83 million in Quarter 2, 2012 to 2.06 million in Quarter 2, 2017 – an increase of 227,000 persons. Within the South East region,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Unemployment Data (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: According to the EUROSTAT Labour Force Survey, in 2016 there were 170.76 million households in the EU (excluding households composed solely of students or solely of inactive people aged 65 and over). Of these, some 29.49 million households (17.3% of the total) were jobless - that is, no adult in the household was working. For Ireland, the total number of relevant households was 1,440,600,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Family Support Services (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2018 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of approximately €74.1 million on the farm assist scheme. Farm Assist recipients will benefit from the following measures which I provided for in Budget 2018; the €5 per week increase in the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance Payments (16 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1616, 1617, 1619, 1620, 1625, 1628, 1632 and 1637 together. The costings sought by Deputy O’Dea are detailed in the following series of tables. Table 1: Full year cost of varying amounts in all weekly social insurance payments Schemes €5  increase  €10 increase  €15 increase  €20 increase ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (16 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. End of year records show that under the 2017 BSCFA scheme, payments were made to 151,000 families in respect of over 275,000 children at a cost of €49 million. The rate of payment in 2017 was increased by 25% to €125 in respect of children aged 4 to 11 and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Working Family Payment (16 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...Family Payment is an in-work support, which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children and offers a financial incentive to take-up employment. There are currently over 57,000 families with nearly 129,939 children in receipt of the WFP. The estimated spend on WFP this year is approximately €431 million. The estimated full year cost in 2018 of increasing...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (16 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...2011 provided that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) which was available to people aged 65 who satisfied the qualifying conditions. This measure standardised the State pension age for all at 66 years. This will increase to 67 in 2021 and to 68 in 2028. We are all aware that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Expenditure (16 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...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 627,432 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of over €2 billion in 2018. The estimated full year cost of increasing Child Benefit from its current rate of €140 per month by...