Results 181-200 of 2,197 for long speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Consultations (7 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...from employment in addition to their payment. The main proposal of the Green Paper is to introduce a single, three-tiered Personal Support Payment. This is to ensure all people with disabilities on long-term disability payments are treated the same, whether on a contributory and non-contributory payment. Under the tiered model, it is proposed to move to a Working Age Payment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (7 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...with disabilities, which will improve their outcomes; and secondly, to better insulate disabled people who cannot work from poverty and deprivation. The Paper’s key proposal is to introduce a new long-term disability payment that has three tiers of payment with associated employment supports. This takes into consideration the recommendations of the Cost of Disability report,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...qualifying conditions for both schemes are that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking full-time work. The Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme (PTJI) is available to people who are long-term unemployed to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a weekly income supplement. The scheme is generally awarded for one year but may be extended for up...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Policies (7 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...Child (to be paid per qualified child). Recently I announced changes to the State Pension (Contributory) that are being introduced in January 2024. These changes include improved access to state pensions provision for long-term carers. These changes will see carers receive the equivalent of paid contributions for caring periods of over 20 years to cover gaps in their contribution record...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (7 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...PRSI credits, Homemaking Disregards and HomeCaring Periods to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid employment in the calculation of a payment rate. Despite these measures, some long-term carers of incapacitated dependents may still face barriers in accessing the State Pension (Contributory). They may for example have difficulty establishing the minimum number of 10...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (6 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: A Christmas Bonus payment of 100% of the appropriate weekly amount is to be paid to all recipients of long-term Social Welfare Payments, subject to a minimum Bonus payment of €20. As announced in Budget 2024, Customers in receipt of Jobseeker’s Payments who have been on these payments for 12 months / 312 Claim Paid Days (CPD) or more will receive a Christmas Bonus. In this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (6 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...over 20 years (1040 weeks). The periods of care-giving do not need to be consecutive. If the person concerned has been caring for incapacitated dependents for over 20 years, they can apply for the Long-Term Carers Contributions (LTCC). If the criteria are met, the equivalent of paid contributions may be attributed to cover caring gaps in their contribution record. The quickest way to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (5 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 348 and 352 together. I was pleased to announce that a 100% Christmas Bonus will once again be paid this year to over 1.3 million recipients of long-term social welfare payments. The Christmas Bonus is paid to pensioners, people with disabilities, carers, lone parents and long-term unemployed people in recognition of their long-term financial dependence on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (5 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...same investment opportunities as private investors in the current pensions market - which are also state-incentivised through tax relief on contributions. To this end, assets will be invested in the best long-term interests of participants, with the portfolio of investments properly diversified while avoiding reliance on any particular asset. Similarly, with the exception of globally...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...pupils doing transition year, there has been an increase in the number of 18-year-olds still in secondary education. I believe the extension of Child Benefit to 18-year-olds in full-time education is a long-term change for the better and will support families across Ireland into the future. This is a significant change to the Child Benefit scheme which will require technical and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Dec 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...circumstances of each case. All applicants must satisfy the entire eligibility criteria for entitlement to rent supplement. Responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to those with a long-term housing need rests with Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Under Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), you are allowed to work full-time while still receiving housing...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...for over 20 years (1040 weeks). The periods of care-giving do not need to be consecutive. If the person concerned has been caring for incapacitated dependents for over 20 years, they can apply for the Long-Term Carers Contributions (LTCC). If the criteria are met, the equivalent of paid contributions may be attributed to cover caring gaps in their contribution record. The quickest way...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Fuel allowance (FA) is a means-tested payment to assist householders on long-term social welfare payments and persons aged over 70 towards the cost of their winter heating needs. Qualification for FA is subject to satisfying all the relevant qualifying conditions. According to the records of my Department, the person concerned applied for a FA on 15/11/2023. In their application they...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...Nos. 13, 14 and 15 are technical amendments to include references to the new section 6D, which sets out the ten-year transitional arrangements for the total contributions approach. Amendment No. 16 is quite long. It sets out the substantive and consequential changes required to the Act to provide for the ten-year phased transition to the total contributions approach, or the aggregate...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...Deputy asked me and I am waiting to get an answer. I asked the question of how many people this would impact. It is approximately a third, a third and a third. It is people who do not have the long attachment with the workforce and those who cannot avail of the caring period. What helps this is the caring period-----

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: By 2033, approximately one third of claimants at that stage could be worse off if they do not have the long attachment to the workforce and if they do not have credits for caring periods.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: ...the jobseeker's transitional payment would be contrary to the policy goal, which is to change the one-parent family payment. That was introduced in 2015. The changes we are doing are to tackle the long-term social welfare dependency and its associated poverty risks. This is done through a tapering of income supports and a more active engagement process offering enhanced education,...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: Yes, and then we can have a long lunch.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: .... I believe we have responded comprehensively to that in terms of retaining the pension age at 66, introducing the new flexibility to allow people to defer their pension, providing a pension to long-term carers and the small incremental increases in PRSI over the next five years, which will make the system more sustainable. We always said that, in keeping it at 66, because of the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2023)

Heather Humphreys: .... In fact, the old transition pension was not available for self-employed workers, which means many manual workers would not have got it. I take the point that in the case of somebody who has a long work history and who is genuinely not able to work, we should try to do something for them. I am looking at it. However, it would mean that whatever I come up with, I will have to bring...