Results 2,141-2,160 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Banking (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The costs my department incurred in each of the past five years (2012 to 2016 inclusive) due to debit and credit card payment services and banking fees are outlined in table: Year/Description 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total Annual Fee €103.00 €155.00 €160.91 €93.00 €140.54 €652.45 Government Duty €108.28 €90.00 €90.00...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff Data (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The following tables give a breakdown of the women and men employed by this Department in the following grades: Secretary General, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Principal and Assistant Principal. This Department has no officers serving at the Second Secretary grade. Female ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff Data (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The following table gives a breakdown of women and men employed in this Department by grade as at the end of July 2017: Female Male Grade FTE People Grade FTE People Secretary General 0.00 0.00 Secretary General 1.00 1.00 Deputy Secretary 1.00 1.00 Deputy Secretary 0.00 0.00 Assistant Secretary 5.00 5.00 Assistant Secretary 4.00 4.00 Principal Officer 40.30 43.00 Principal...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to 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 626,362 families in respect of over 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Waiting Times (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Performance indicators relating to service delivery are set out in detail in the Department’s Customer Action Plan, including processing time targets for the main welfare schemes. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Services Programme (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy is aware, the Community Services Programme (CSP) is designed to support community companies in providing local social, economic and environmental services through the application of a social enterprise model of delivery. Funding is provided to support the employment of staff to deliver these services. Earlier this year, my Department announced a call for proposals under strand...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Implementation (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Jobseekers, while engaged with the JobPath service, can apply for Back to Education Allowance. While the field of study should relate to the employment preferences agreed by the customer with their JobPath personal advisor, the decision on any application is made by an official in my Department. Jobseekers who are already participating with the JobPath service will not be referred to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, to low income households, at an estimated cost of €229 million in 2017. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 15 August 2017 who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Payments (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The amount of the person's average reckonable weekly earnings in the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) determines the rate of jobseeker’s benefit payable.The GCY is the second last complete contribution year before the benefit year in which the claim is made. To qualify for the full rate of jobseeker’s benefit, the weekly earnings in the GCY must be €300.00 or greater....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Question Heading for question(s) 1827,1839,1840,1842,1847,1868,1871,1896 (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1827, 1839, 1840, 1842, 1847, 1868, 1871 and 1896 together. In 2005, the Government agreed a standard for establishing and verifying an individual’s identity for the purposes of accessing public services. This standard is known as the Standard Authentication Framework Environment – or “SAFE”. The SAFE standard has four levels: -...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Expenditure (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The introduction of a “cost of disability” payment would be a major undertaking requiring clear definitions of qualifying conditions and research into the prevalence of these conditions leading to estimates of the numbers of persons who would potentially qualify. It is likely that it would also require significant administrative spending in establishing the information...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1829 and 1830 together. The aim of employment schemes like Community Employment (CE) and Tús is to enhance the employability and skills of unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. These schemes help unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Housing Assistance Payments Data (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1831, 1867 and 1901 together. In recognition of the on-going rental market difficulties, the Department continues to implement a targeted case-by-case policy approach in the administration of rent supplement that allows for flexibility where landlords seek rents in excess of the rent limits. In addition, the Protocol arrangement in place with Threshold...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: In all, approx. 2.8m Public Services Cards (PSC) have issued since SAFE registration commenced in 2011. 66% of adults resident in the State have now completed registration to SAFE Level 2 (substantial assurance of identity) which is the minimum for issue of a PSC. SAFE registration facilities are available at over 100 of the Department’s locations nationally, and in at least one...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Payments (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1836 and 1838 together. The current Child Benefit rate is €140 per month for each child. For twins, the rate is one and a half times the normal monthly rate for each child. For triplets and other multiple births, Child Benefit is paid at double the normal monthly rate for each child, provided at least three of the children remain qualified. In...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Maternity Benefit is paid by my Department and is based on payment of PRSI contributions while working. The current entitlement to paid maternity leave is 26 weeks. The table below estimates the additional cost of increasing the duration of paid maternity leave by 16 weeks to 42 weeks and by 26 weeks to 52 weeks. These estimates are based on the cost for a full year and assume that any...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 13thJune 2017.It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers have been received in the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department immediately activated its humanitarian assistance scheme, administered by the local Community Welfare Service (CWS), to assist householders in County Donegal affected by flooding following the recent severe weather conditions. The purpose of the humanitarian assistance scheme is to prevent hardship by providing income-tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 27 June 2017. The application was awarded to the person concerned on 4 September 2017 and the first payment will issue to his nominated bank account on 26 September 2017. Arrears of allowance due from 29 June 2017 to 25 September 2017 will issue shortly. The person concerned...