Results 221-240 of 4,407 for speaker:Claire Kerrane

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (17 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: The north and west of Ireland were not downgraded to the status of a region in transition for no reason. It did not happen by accident and we all know this is the result of decades of underinvestment by previous Governments and this Government in infrastructure west of the Shannon. We are the only region in Ireland that has been downgraded by the EU Commission and that is because we are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (17 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: I am glad the Minister has referred to the plans that are being considered by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that would essentially see these regional funds being centralised in Dublin. That is an outrageous proposition that should have never come to the desk of any Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. As I said, we are looking at the impacts of Brexit and at the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Eligibility (17 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: This issue has been ongoing for approximately six months. That is six months of workers not knowing their income from one week to another and struggling from one week to another. These are workers with families and with mortgages or rent to pay. They have been under immense pressure in the past few months. They have been told one thing by their local Intreo offices and another thing at...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Eligibility (17 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: We all appreciate the process that is in place for these workers but the issue is with the Minister's reference to when the employers signs the forms. That has been the entire issue here: the employer has not been signing the forms and that has left employees in an awful situation. I reiterate that this has been going on for months. The Minister indicated that Department officials have...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Rural Development Plan (17 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: 21. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the new rural development policy; when it will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24324/20]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Island Communities (17 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: 32. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the stage the Interdepartmental Committee on Island Development is at; the next steps and the way in which she plans to progress the work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24322/20]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pensions Reform (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: 23. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of plans to legislate for the State pension age increase to be deferred and remain at 66 years of age; the timeframe for the legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25248/20]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pensions Reform (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: I want to ask the Minister the status of plans to legislate for the deferral of the State pension increase to 67 years of age.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pensions Reform (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Even at this stage I have received correspondence from people approaching 66 years of age next year. We know that in normal circumstances, people approaching pension age have to apply for the payment three months before turning 66 years of age. I recently spoke to a gentleman who is turning 66 next April and who has been told he cannot apply for the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Pensions Reform (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: Following on from that, as the membership has not yet been agreed and the Minister has to bring a memo to Cabinet, which I appreciate, given the timeframe in the programme for Government is she confident that the commission will be able to report by June next year? When does she envisage the first meeting of the commission's membership will take place? It is very important that she has a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: 25. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider moving towards linking social welfare rates with the minimum essential standard of living to ensure that all households relying on social welfare supports receive an amount that is adequate to meet their needs; the steps she will take in Budget 2021 in relation to the matter; and if she will make a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: Will the Minister consider moving towards linking social welfare rates with adequacy? Will she begin that process in the upcoming budget?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. The Minister will probably know that this is an issue that we have been raising in the House for many years. In 2018, we published the Social Welfare Commission Bill, which was to establish a commission to consider the work the VPSJ does on the MESL to ensure very vulnerable households that rely on social welfare supports can meet a certain amount of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Rates (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: I certainly would not be asking the Minister to do it in one year but I ask if she could begin the process in the next budget. The Minister also referred to the roadmap on social inclusion. We have been asking about this roadmap for a long time because, as the Minister will know, it was published two years late, having been due in 2017. The Minister will notice from the response of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: 27. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the prevalence of energy poverty here, the increased energy costs faced by families due to more time being spent at home in recent months and rising energy costs; the steps she will take to address the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25250/20]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: I want to ask the Minister about energy poverty and the difficulties faced by vulnerable households owing to increased energy costs. These households have spent longer at home in recent months and will have higher energy bills.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: It is always the case at this time of the year that lights in households are turned on earlier and more heating is required. Uniquely this year, more people have spent more time at home than usual and they face increased energy costs. I appreciate that the fuel allowance season was extended, that procedures were put in place and that disconnections were banned, all of which measures were of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: I stand to be corrected but I believe many of the grants available through the SEAI, which are welcome, are part payments. In many cases, households simply cannot afford to put any money aside to try to retrofit their homes or make them warmer. I agree, however, that it cannot just be about spending money on and adding to the fuel allowance every year; it has to be about making the homes...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fuel Poverty (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: The Minister has a draft of the report on the impact of the carbon tax and low-income households. When might the report be published?

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (22 Sep 2020)

Claire Kerrane: 53. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way in which talks between her Department and a company (details supplied) in relation to access to jobseeker’s benefit came about; the outcome of the talks; if workers will receive backdated payments in cases in which they were on reduced days while in receipt of the temporary wage subsidy scheme; and if she will...