Results 3,181-3,200 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

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

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy is aware, the Community Services Programme (CSP) provides financial support to community companies that provide revenue generating services of a socially inclusive nature. Many of these companies are also funded from other sources and generate revenue from the public use of their facilities and services. A budget of just over €46m has been provided for the CSP in 2017....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Self-employed workers who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable to pay PRSI at the Class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. For the purposes of determining whether an individual’s income exceeds the €5,000 annual threshold, income from all sources, including reckonable earnings from insurable employment and all...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I can confirm my office received an application for carers allowance form the person concerned on 9 August 2017. Additional information was requested by a deciding officer on 16 November 2017 in order to determine the entitlement. Once this information is received, the application will be processed without delay and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned was in receipt of carer’s allowance (CA) until 11 May 2016 when her claim was terminated as she had failed to supply documentation requested in course of a review. She re-applied for CA on 20 March 2017.On this application, the person concerned denied having any accounts in a bank, post office, credit union, building society or in any financial institution in this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Payments (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Carer’s allowance was awarded to the person concerned on 4 November 2017 and first payment issued to her nominated post office on 23 November 2017. Arrears for the period 29 June 2017 to 22 November 2017 will issue shortly. The person concerned was notified of these details on 4 November 2017. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department takes the issue of domestic violence very seriously. We are in the middle of Women's Aid's "16 Days" campaign which I fully support every year. I also recognise that my Department’s Maintenance Recovery Unit does a worthwhile job in assisting people where its assistance is required. The guidelines in place in my Department with regard to seeking maintenance are clear in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Complaints Procedures (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The first person concerned was in receipt of the Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension. This person concerned received a letter which mistakenly referred to the second person concerned as co-habiting with her. This is in fact incorrect as the wrong person was named in the letter. The Department wishes to apologise for any upset caused. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Applications (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Carer's benefit (CARB) is a payment made to full-time employees who leave the workforce to care for a person(s) in need of full-time care and attention. My department received an application for CARB from the person concerned on 24 July 2017. One of the qualifying conditions requires that the carer must have been employed for at least 16 hours each week in 8 out of the 26 weeks before the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Widow's Pension Appeals (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned was previously married in Ireland and divorced in Northern Ireland. His subsequent marriage to his late wife also took place in Northern Ireland. As set out in previous responses on this matter, the provisions pertaining to the recognition of divorce outside the State are set out in Section 5 of the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act, 1986....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance Payments (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm this lady and gentleman are both in receipt of a reduced rate of disability allowance due to income from a private pension. The means assessment applied by the deciding officer is set down in legislation and therefore the deciding officer cannot deviate from the process. I can confirm that this lady and gentleman are financially better off receiving individual payments with the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Business of Select Committee (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I wish to advise the committee that Deputy Bailey cannot attend and has been replaced by Deputy Fitzpatrick.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: We are talking about something we cannot talk about because it is gone, but I do not have a problem coming back. Three months is not a reasonable amount of time to have let the changes we are making now elapse to see what impact they will have. Most of the amendments tabled today are about compiling reports on one thing or another, and all they would do is make work for us, whereas the work...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: It is a question of how long is a piece of string. I cannot give a definitive answer because it entirely depends on the recovery of the economy. As there is more money to spend and more money is given to me, we will have more money to do the things that we want to do. As I said yesterday, if all we were doing this year was giving a €5 increase and that was it, the likelihood is it...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I will clarify again what I said last night and what I said at the committee last week. First, it is not a Government report. It is a Department paper with resolutions to fix the anomaly. That will be going to the next Cabinet sub-committee for discussion with the other people on that economics committee. If it is agreed there, which I have no doubt it will be, it will then go to the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am not sure. As new money is involved, I believe the memorandum will then have to go to the Cabinet. I do not think I could publish it before then. It would only be a number of days. There cannot be any more than seven days between those meetings.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Immediately. I hope I will be on the plinth at 1 p.m. that day telling the Deputy that I got the money and that we are fixing the issue.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: It is not a report that will be brought to Cabinet; it is a paper.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: It is not a report. We need to trawl through the more than 42,000 people to find out exactly where they were on the scale, how much money it will cost and what their circumstances were. The paper will set out exactly what the problem is and the preferred way or ways to fix it and how much it will cost. The reason I am confident it will be accepted is because everybody has said they want to...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: It is not the simplest way because it would cause me many other problems. I am sorry to interrupt the Deputy. If we had done that, it would cause many other problems. It would have fixed one anomaly but created a whole load of other anomalies. I am blue in the face saying this. Our fundamental aim, apart from fixing this, was to make sure we did not cause other problems for other people.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I hear what members of the committee are saying. The timeline has already been laid down. I have given a commitment that the paper with its resolutions and suggestions will go to the next Cabinet sub-committee meeting whenever that is in the next number of weeks. It will immediately go to Cabinet after that. If the Deputy wants to table and amendment proposing that I publish the paper...