Results 3,141-3,160 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Programme (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: With JobPath the department has procured additional resources to enable it to provide a high quality case managed employment support service to people who are long term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed. The JobPath service was designed to augment and complement the Department’s existing employment service capacity, including that provided by LES.Prior...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 63 and 68 together. The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to provide income support for low income farmers. It replaced the former smallholders’ unemployment assistance payment. In line with the then existing arrangements for unemployment assistance (including smallholders) and pre-retirement allowance, the income of farm assist recipients...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Live Register Data (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The official measure of unemployment is sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). The most recent data show that unemployment has fallen from a peak of 15% in 2012 to 6.2% by mid-2017. Numbers at work have increased from 1.836 million in Q2 2012 to 2.063 million in Q2 2017, an increase of 227,000 persons. Within the South East region, which includes Wexford, unemployment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department’s Report - An Analysis of the Community Employment Programmewas published in April this year. Following the publication my Department undertook nationwide consultation workshops with key Community Employment (CE) scheme stakeholders during May and early June. The consultation was very positive and following the workshops new changes to CE conditions were implemented from...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The General Scheme of the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017, which was published in May, contained a number of key measures to respond to the ongoing difficulties in defined benefit schemes and to increase protections for members. The proposals provide for -i) the introduction of a time limit for submitting funding proposals and for the annual preparation and submission of actuarial...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions Reform (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 provided for the necessary amendments to increase the State pension age in line with the National Pensions Framework. It provided for an increase in the age for qualification for the State Pension from 66 years to 67 years from 2021, and a further increase to 68 years from 2028. It also discontinued the State Pension (transition) for new claimants with...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department is drafting what will be a Governmental five year pensions reform plan and I can confirm the Government’s intention to publish and commence the implementation of this reform plan in the near future. The objective of this reform plan will be to provide for a fit for purpose pension system for the coming decades. Perhaps the most fundamental reform contained within the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 75 together. Community Employment (CE) scheme supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector. The State is not responsible for funding pension arrangements for such employees even where the companies in question are reliant on State funding. It is open to individuals to make provision for a pension by way of PRSA...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Delays (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent years. As a result, appeal processing times improved between 2011 and 2016 from 52.5 weeks for an oral hearing in 2011 to 24.1 weeks in 2016 and from 25.1 weeks for a summary decision in 2011 to 17.6 weeks in 2016. I understand from the Chief Appeals Officer that there has been a slight increase in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Services Programme (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 478 and 479 together. The Community Services Programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a socially inclusive nature. The CSP works on a social-enterprise model which means that it does not fully fund contract holders but requires that they generate revenue by charging fees or raising...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobs Initiative (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Job Initiative (JI) scheme was launched by FÁS in 1996 and transferred to my Department with effect from 1 January 2012. A Memorandum of Agreement for the contract period is completed annually by both my Department and the sponsoring organisations (called Managing Agents) and my Department provides financial funding to schemes towards administration costs, participant and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Data (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 484 to 486, inclusive, and 490 together. As the Deputy will be aware, JobPath is a service that supports people who are long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. The service commenced operations in mid-2015, and reached full State-wide delivery of the service in July 2016. Some 65,000 Clients commenced their engagement with the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Communications (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department is a major user of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and invests on an ongoing basis in securing the ICT technical infrastructure and the services and data used in support of our business. This includes traditional, defence-in-depth deployments of preventative controls like firewalls and endpoint protection and advanced threat detection tools. My Department also...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to convene an oral hearing in this case. Every effort will be made to hear the case as quickly as possible and the person concerned will be informed when arrangements for the oral hearing have been made. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (29 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 the applicant reaches pension age. It is therefore not possible to predict an individual’s state pension (contributory) entitlement. Eligibility is examined by a Deciding Officer following receipt of a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Data (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. The ENP scheme is demand led and payments are made at the discretion of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Operation (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy is aware, Community Employment (CE) schemes offer opportunities for the long-term unemployed to gain valuable work experience and participate in training while they are paid an equivalent to their social welfare entitlement in addition to a top up payment. Participants on CE work for 19½ hours per week. Work opportunities are within communities and, in the main, support...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Leave (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Department of Justice and Equality have responsibility for maternity and adoptive leave which are provided for in the 1994 and 2004 Maternity Acts and the 1995 and 2005 Adoptive Leave Acts. Maternity leave is only available to the mother and adoptive leave is only available to an adopting mother or sole male adopter. My Department has responsibility for the associated social welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned is currently in receipt of a maximum rate of state pension (non - contributory) with effect from 7 July 2017, the Friday following their 66thbirthday. Prior to their 66thbirthday, they were a social welfare beneficiary, as a qualified adult on their spouse’s state pension (contributory) and received the maximum rate payable. The person concerned has not applied...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 500 and 522 together. Self-employed workers who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. This provides them with access to the following benefits: State pension (contributory) and widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s...