Results 6,041-6,060 of 7,460 for speaker:John Brady

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Feb 2018)

John Brady: The lone parent figures are up.

Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Feb 2018)

John Brady: It is 2020 we are talking about - the Taoiseach's targets.

Other Questions: Public Services Card Authentication (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: You would not find me over on those benches.

Other Questions: Fuel Allowance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: 49. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to review the rates of payment and the periods of time for which the fuel allowance is paid by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8342/18]

Other Questions: Fuel Allowance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: What are the Minister’s intentions to review the payments of the fuel allowance and their duration? When we debated the Social Welfare Act 2017 I tabled an amendment to ensure she would carry out a review and use the information with a view to potentially extending or increasing the payment.

Other Questions: Fuel Allowance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: There are strong links between low income unemployed people and fuel poverty. Single person households, lone parents and older people are more susceptible to fuel poverty. It is estimated that a colossal 28% of homes across the State are experiencing fuel poverty of one degree or another. This is the responsibility of several Departments but specifically the Minister's Department. She...

Other Questions: Fuel Allowance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: I am not asking the Minister to get into the specifics of budget 2019 but we need to be realistic. The payment does not go far enough. In 2010, a 40 kg bag of coal cost in the region of €13.50 and that now stands at €20 or thereabouts. A bale of briquettes was approximately €2.99 and now it costs approximately €4.80. Energy costs have gone up considerably. I...

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: 43. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the report into the impact of the reduced jobseeker's payment rates for jobseekers aged 18 to 25 years, further to the commitment in the Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8344/18]

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: I want to ask about the status of a report the Government committed to on the cuts to jobseeker's payments for young unemployed people. That report was committed to under the Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy. We have yet to see the report. Will the Minister give us an update on it?

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: As the Minister is aware, the cuts to jobseeker's payments for young unemployed people were started in 2009 by the then Government comprising Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. It was eagerly pursued by the Minister's party, Fine Gael, and has continued until now. It is a discriminatory cut, and this has been echoed by many organisations, including the National Youth Council of Ireland,...

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: The reality, and many organisations have said it, is the discriminatory cuts over which the Minister is presiding are having an impact on young people. Many homeless organisations state they are especially concerned about the effect the cuts may be having on young people. They state it is exacerbating the homeless situation for young people. It is having many negative consequences across...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: What is the scope of the review the Minister has initiated within her Department? What are the terms of reference? Will the Minister be looking at maintenance payments and the difficulties that lone parents encounter, for example, having to go through the District Court? I have spoken to many lone parents who have had to go to the courts up to 14 times and still have not received any...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: It is something on which we have been criticised by the UN for not having in place. It is something that many organisations would like to see.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Income Inequality (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: In 2015, 132,000 people with disabilities across the State were living in consistent poverty. The ESRI report shows clearly that in the context of 11 of our European counterparts, the gap was far greater in Ireland, approximately 10%, than elsewhere. It is clear that not enough is being done. The schemes that have been in place are not working. The Minister referred to the new Ability...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Income Inequality (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: There are many good schemes in operation including WALK PEER, which I mentioned to the Minister's predecessor several times. Year after year, the organisation that runs the scheme has to fight to retain its funding. Thankfully, its funding is in place for this year. WALK PEER is a programme that works. The Minister should replicate it. I referred to figures from 2015 which show that...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: 37. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to proposals (details supplied) regarding the establishment of a child maintenance service; her views on such a service; if her attention has been further drawn to the positive impact this would have on lone parents and their children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8577/18]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: Earlier, we touched on the ESRI report. The Minister will be well aware of the difficulties faced by lone parents and the deprivation rates among them. Last month, I published a Sinn Féin proposal to establish a statutory child maintenance service. The setting up of such a service was one of the main recommendations from the joint committee, which produced a comprehensive study on...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: I am aware that the responsibility lies with the Minister's colleague but it is an issue which Deputy Doherty, as Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, must have a concern when she reads the information on the deprivation levels among lone parents in the ESRI report. We are aware of both the evidence and the studies that have been carried out. The Millar and Crosse report,...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Income Inequality (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: 39. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions she plans to take as a result of the findings of a recent ESRI report detailing high levels of persistent deprivation for persons of a working age with a disability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8578/18]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Programme (20 Feb 2018)

John Brady: 59. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the 18% of full-time employment sourced by JobPath providers (details supplied) for persons based on data for those engaged in the service from July 2015 to June 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8343/18]