Results 2,921-2,940 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Services Programme (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 480 and 481 together. As the Deputy is aware, CSP funding for the Inishowen tourism service was withdrawn from Inishowen Tourism Society Limited on 30 June 2017. Officials from my Department and Pobal engaged with Inishowen Development Partnership Limited, which has an unblemished record in administering state funding in the Inishowen area, to consider...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Bereavement Grant (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: In recent Budgets my Department has protected primary social welfare rates. Abolishing the bereavement grant provided a significant annual saving and allowed my Department to protect other core social welfare payments such as the State pension. Any decision to reinstate the Bereavement Grant would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations. It is worth...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Guardian's Payment Applications (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned was awarded a guardians payment (contributory) at the weekly rate of €176.00 with effect from 8 September 2017.Payment has commenced into the person’s nominated bank account. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Entitlement to State pension (contributory) is assessed on the basis of an applicant’s full social insurance record and the eligibility conditions applicable on the date they reach pension age. Therefore, it is not possible to predict a person’s state pension (contributory) entitlement. An individual’s eligibility is examined by a Deciding Officer on receipt of an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Payments (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned is in receipt of a jobseekers payment from the department and also works part time. If a person works part-time, their employer must pay them for the public holidays which they don’t work, as long as, they have worked at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks immediately before the week of the public holiday. If a person is paid for a public holiday (whether they work on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Applications (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The child benefit claim for the person concerned is currently under review. The claim has been referred to a social welfare inspector for investigation and the inspector’s report is still awaited in the Department. Once the report is received a decision will be made and communicated promptly to the person concerned. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Data (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The average waiting time in respect of child benefit applications is 3 weeks. The claim processing target for child benefit claims is 90% in four weeks. Claims are processed promptly, with the September 2017 output figures showing that 83% of claims were processed within four weeks. It is not possible to provide the requested information regarding County Louth as the relevant data is not...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Inspections (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: In general, child benefit claims are processed at desk and without any requirement for an investigation by an inspector. However, claims requiring investigation to determine eligibility are sent to a social welfare inspector to have an investigation undertaken. Depending on the circumstances, such enquiries can take varying lengths of time. Accordingly, the Department has not set any...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: According to the records of the Department, the person concerned has a social insurance record of 630 paid and credited contributions, covering the period from 1953 to 2001. The person is in receipt of a reduced rate state pension (contributory) based on an assessed yearly average of 13 contributions. The person concerned is in receipt of the correct rate of contributory pension based on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Entitlement to state pension (contributory) is assessed on the basis of an applicant’s full social insurance record and the eligibility conditions applicable on the date they reach pension age. According to the records of my Department, the person concerned has a social insurance record of 653 reckonable contributions and credits. They are in receipt of a reduced state pension...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: According to the records of my Department, the person concerned was initially assessed with a total of 346 full-rate paid social insurance contributions for the period from October 1966 to December 2012. As this is less than the required 520 full-rate social insurance contributions, the qualifying conditions for state pension (contributory) were not met and the person concerned was notified,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2017 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €2.5 billion. It is accepted that periods of unemployment are a normal feature of the acting and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (14 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 4 August 2017. The matter was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) on 13 November 2017 to assess the level of care being provided, assess means and confirm that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are satisfied. Once the SWI has reported, a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Administration (15 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Community Employment (CE) scheme sponsors receive funding based on agreed annual contracts. The funding is provided to cover the costs associated with running the CE scheme, such as wages for the supervisor and participants and other direct costs such as insurance, materials, and training costs. At the end of each annual contract, the sponsor must have a record of all financial...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (15 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I was pleased to announce on Budget Day that an 85% Christmas Bonus will be paid this year to over 1.2 million long-term social welfare recipients, such as pensioners, people with disabilities, carers, lone parents and long-term jobseekers at a cost of €219 million. The bonus is paid as an increase to a recipient’s weekly payment in the relevant week. The bonus is not a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fire Service Staff (15 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together. Retained (part-time) fire-fighters, provide services which are vitally important to their communities. Typically, these workers provide services in rural and less densely populated areas but larger urban centres may also have a cohort of part-time workers. I note the information the Deputy has supplied in relation to a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Health and Safety Regulations (15 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Occupational Health and Safety is the policy responsibility of my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. Policy responsibility for 12 pieces of employment legislation transferred to me pursuant to the Labour Affairs and Labour Law (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017 (S.I. No. 361 of 2017) from 1st...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: National Emergency Plan (15 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department acted on foot of advice received from the National Emergency Co-ordination Group. In the interests of customer and staff safety, all Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection offices closed on 16thOctober 2017. Staff and customers were advised of this using all available channels, including internal email, media and the Department’s website and Twitter...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (15 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 21 August 2017. The matter was referred to a local social welfare inspector (SWI) on 1 November 2017 to assess the level of care being provided, assess means and confirm that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are satisfied. Once the SWI has reported, a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (15 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person concerned on 4 August 2017. The application is currently being processed and once completed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.