Results 2,461-2,480 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Order of Business (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that, as stated some weeks ago when the legislative programme for this period was launched by the Chief Whip, the Government will publish the Bill before Christmas. It is being drafted currently. It will effectively ban zero hour contracts and bring in banded contract hours. As soon as it is drafted it will be published and will go to pre-legislative scrutiny.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 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 619,880 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The tapered PRSI credit was introduced in January 2016 for PRSI class A and Class H employees earning between €352.01 and €424.00 per week. The maximum weekly credit of €12 applies at gross earnings of €352.01. As earnings increase, the €12 is reduced by one-sixth of weekly earnings in excess of €352.01. At earnings of €424.01, the credit...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: Last December, an 85% Christmas Bonus was paid to some 1.2 million long-term social welfare recipients, including pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and the long-term unemployed, in recognition of their financial dependence on their social welfare payments for all or most of their income. The cost of a 100% or 85% Bonus is estimated at approximately €260 million and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Payments (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: To qualify for Jobseeker's Allowance, a person must, in general, be both available for and genuinely seeking full time work. I will ask my officials to contact the Deputy to establish if there are specific enquires that she wishes to have clarified in relation to any particular case. I trust that this clarified the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Eligibility (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 572 and 573 together. The “Make Work Pay” initiative was introduced on the 6 April 2017. This initiative extends a free travel entitlement for a period of five years where people with a long term disability payment move off the payment to get a job. The following schemes are considered as long term disability payments and any person who moves...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Data (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The liability to maintain family provisions, contained in sections 345 & 346 (1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 are separate to, and do not negate or supersede parents’ obligations under Family Law. Where a lone parent is in receipt of One Parent Family Payment (OFP), the legislation enables the assessment of the liability of the other parent to pay a financial...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement to a State pension (contributory), all contributions, paid or credited, over their working life from when they first enter insurable employment until pension age are taken into account when assessing their entitlement and the level of that entitlement. The homemaker's scheme makes qualification for a higher rate of State pension...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: I can confirm the Government will publish and commence the implementation of a pensions reform plan in the coming months. Perhaps the most fundamental reform contained within the plan will be a confirmation of the Government’s intention to develop a new automatic enrolment supplementary retirement savings systemfor employees without pensions coverage. The rate of supplementary...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The homemaker’s scheme, which was introduced in 1994 and provides for periods since then, makes qualification easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. It does this by allowing gaps of up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age, or incapacitated people, to be disregarded when a person’s social insurance record is being averaged...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 578 and 579 together. Each year more people are living to pension age and living longer in retirement. As a result of this demographic change, the number of State pension recipients is increasing year on year. This has significant implications for the future costs of State pension provision, and demographic change alone is expected to increase spending on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The home-makers scheme makes qualification for a higher rate of State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. The scheme, which was introduced in and took effect for periods from 1994, allows up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age (or caring for incapacitated people over that age) to be disregarded when a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Data (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: To qualify for a carer’s allowance (CA), an applicant must show that they are habitually resident in the State, are providing full-time care and attention to a person who has such a disability that they require full-time care and attention and that their means are less than the statutory limit. An application may be disallowed on the grounds that one or more of these conditions are not...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence including that adduced at the oral hearing, has decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff Recruitment (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department, like all Government Departments and agencies, is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget. Within these constraints, my Department is focusing on prioritising the filling of critical posts. The staffing needs for all offices of my Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned is currently in receipt of a Jobseeker’s Transition payment. An application for Carer’s Allowance was disallowed in May 2017 as the person concerned did not satisfy the qualifying criteria for this payment. She was notified on 2 May 2017 of this decision, the reason for it and of her right of review or appeal. According to the Social Welfare Appeals...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The purpose of SAFE 2 registration is to verify a person’s identity to a substantial level of assurance. Once identity is verified, a Public Services Card can be issued. This is a physical token which proves that a person has had their identity verified to the SAFE 2 standard and enables them to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 16 August 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 for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. These papers have been...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 18 July 2017. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the deciding officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (3 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 21 June 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 Employment Affairs and Social Protection. These papers have been...