Results 2,101-2,120 of 3,444 for speaker:Shane Cassells

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (23 Oct 2019)

Shane Cassells: If we had agreed, we would have got free tickets for the big show next year.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (23 Oct 2019)

Shane Cassells: Senator Buttimer is 100% right. The issue not only affects Cork. The transition between primary and secondary school is a major issue for parents right across the country.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

Shane Cassells: It is an extremely interesting note from the Valuation Office in the context of commercial ratepayers. It is hugely insightful in the context of our understanding of the system, particularly at a time when revaluations are happening across the country, including in my constituency. It helps us to understand the zoning method and how it is based on the principle that the most valuable part...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

Shane Cassells: I am not asking for the Comptroller and Auditor General's assessment of the rights and wrongs of the apportionment but on the financial impact on the sector, which he analyses. The Department has made an assessment that it will be largely in line but it does not know. The impact is always felt by the private sector in that the €1.5 billion to fund local government has to be taken...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

Shane Cassells: I wish to highlight again the complexity of funding. Last year, an increase of €60 million was heralded in a speech but there is a cut of €30 million this year and there is no reference to it. The Department said we may or may not get an equitable amount in 2020 but nobody knows. It is a significant amount of money.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

Shane Cassells: It is an interesting-----

Illegal Drugs: Motion [Private Members] (5 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: I commend my colleague, Deputy Curran, on bringing forward this motion and on all his diligent work in this area both now and when he was a Minister of State. I also commend the various Ministers of State with responsibility for the area of drugs from all parties who came together last week to show their solidarity and demonstrate that there is a united front across our Parliament in dealing...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (6 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: It is an interesting petition in the context of everything that we are discussing. We are talking about the elimination of paper receipts, specifically on debit and credit card transactions. It goes on to talk about the impact in terms of the felling of trees, litter fines, comparable examples in America and so forth. It is worthy of discussion. I am old-school and I still prefer to...

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (6 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: This particular one comes down to other issues but also to the production of paper, which is a hugely intensive process. The number of trees felled just to produce paper is amazing. Unfortunately, it is probably a dying commodity in one respect by virtue of the fact everything is electronic. Again, being old-school, that is something that I would mourn to some extent. However, this is a...

Report of the Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: I thank the Minister of State for his very candid views on this topic. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the report of the Seanad reform implementation group as I was a member of the group, which met between May and November of last year. When I looked at the filing cabinet this morning to refer to the documents and saw the number of lever arch folders we had amassed during that period,...

Report of the Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: I accepted that at the time. I was just making the point that during our deliberations-----

Report of the Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: The report states that we should have maximum participation.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: I welcome Mr. McKeon and his team and thank them for their detailed note. Huge areas are covered by the Department and Mr. McKeon confirms that its customers are a huge part of our life and are made up of people of all ages, all demographics, rather than just people on the dole. There are three special chapters in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report that we are discussing, along...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: Is that correspondence issued on an annual basis? Many people are frugal up to turning 65 years of age, but perhaps their circumstances then change. They are not being deceitful on purpose, but they might come into some money. They are not checked until they are hit with a bill a number of years later. I mentioned the €100,000 in respect of the 80 year old. Has the effectiveness...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: Has the Department been able to extrapolate from the survey an estimate of the overall amount of irregular payments?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: How much was official error?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: Changes in means obviously accounted for the largest-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: I will move on to chapter 13 - timeliness of income support claim processing. When the Department appeared before us last year, it had examined this area. Following on from that, there was a finding and recommendation in our March periodic report, which read:The processing of applications by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection requiring medical assessments is unduly...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: In its work with the advocacy groups, has the Department communicated that they are delaying processing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Chapter 12 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 13 - Timeliness of Income Support Claim Processing
Chapter 14 - Customer Service - Development of Income Support Application Forms (7 Nov 2019)

Shane Cassells: Regarding chapter 14, which is on customer service and the development of income support application forms, I am sure that Mr. McKeon will appreciate how much time is spent in a Deputy's constituency office helping constituents fill out the myriad of forms from the 86 schemes that his Department operates. We often contact the Department's various sub-offices. Will Mr. McKeon speak about the...