Results 3,521-3,540 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Other Questions: Exceptional Needs Payment Data (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Under the supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, scheme, my Department may make a single exceptional needs payment to help meet essential, once off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her weekly income. The Government provided €36 million for exceptional payments last year. The exceptional needs payment scheme is demand led and payments...

Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy stated that the Bill was published before Christmas and it is on the list to be dealt with this session. As soon as we are given a scheduled date by the Business Committee, we will be in like Flynn.

Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: There was extensive consultation with unions to develop the Bill and I am sure amendments will be made on the five Stages of the Bill, which we will discuss in this House and in committee. There is a separate report, done by the Department of Finance and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, on bogus self-employment which will go to Cabinet shortly and will give key...

Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am having déjà vu. This is probably the fourth time I have said this today in the House as I took oral questions from 10.30 a.m. An extensive report has been compiled by my officials over the last couple of months. It is absolutely nowhere near six months since this conversation came up in the House; it was just before Christmas, after the budget. I gave a commitment then to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: All claim decisions taken by the Department’s deciding officers are appealable to the Chief Appeals Officer. In any year about 85% of all claims are awarded and just 1% are appealed. Nevertheless the Department is concerned that these cases are dealt with as quickly as possible. Accordingly, significant efforts and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeal process in recent...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 33 together. The Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) is a new scheme that I intend to introduce in May/June of this year. The scheme will be targeted at young people aged 18 to 24 who are long-term unemployed or who face barriers to employment – people who even in the Celtic Tiger years would have found it difficult to get a foot on the career...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The State pension contributory is paid from the Social Insurance Fund. Accordingly, it is important to ensure those qualifying for that pension have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement, all contributions, paid or credited, over their working life from when they first enter insurable...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Interviews for the Branch Manager position in Macroom, Co Cork were held on 14th of September 2017 and a preferred candidate emerged from the open recruitment competition to select a new Manager. Discussions with the candidate selected, regarding the final details of the office accommodation to be provided, have been concluded and, I as Minister, approved the appointment of the new Branch...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: There are 93,000 clients currently engaged with JobPath of which 483, or 0.5%, currently have a penalty rate applied to their claim. This figure is consistent with the overall level of penalty rate applied across all Job Seekers. In total since the JobPath service commenced, approximately 6,500 or 4.6% of the 141,000 clients who had engaged with the JobPath service (between July 2015 and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Penalty rates were introduced as a means of encouraging jobseekers to engage with activation measures and co-operate with efforts of the Department to assist them in securing employment. The Department is committed, under Pathways to Work, to incentivise the take-up of activation opportunities, including implementing sanctions for failure to engage. The application of penalty rates is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Citizen Information Services (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Citizens Information Board (CIB), which has the statutory responsibility for the Citizens Information Service (CIS) and the Money and Advice Budgeting Service (MABS) decided in February 2017 to restructure its governance arrangements. The first phase of implementation is underway in the areas of South Dublin, North Leinster (Kildare, Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath) and South...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Citizen Information Services (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The aim of the decision by the Board of the Citizens information Board (CIB) to restructure local Citizens Information Services (CIS) and Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) company boards is to improve the governance arrangements with its downstream service delivery partners. It must be remembered that citizen centric CIS and MABS services are 100% funded by the Exchequer. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Poverty Data (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The latest CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) results for 2016 shows that people in households headed by a person whose principal economic status is not at work due to illness or disability continue to experience higher at risk and consistent poverty rates than the general population. The survey also shows that social transfers play a very significant role in reducing poverty...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The purpose of SAFE 2 registration is to verify a person’s identity to a substantial level of assurance. Once identity is so verified, a Public Services Card can be issued as a physical token of proof of that identity verification. My Department makes it clear to our customers that they need to complete a SAFE 2 registration to access, or continue to access, payments and entitlements....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Mental Health Services Provision (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Through the operation of the income support system managed by my Department and the health service managed by the HSE, the Government recognises the need for flexible and effective support for persons who encounter mental health difficulties. Recent research by the ESRI and the OECD has drawn attention to the prevalence of mental health conditions in the working-age population. Both an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Social welfare legislation provides for the disregard of certain compensation awards when assessing the means of a person for social assistance schemes. This includes all income derived from compensation awarded by the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation Tribunal, by the Residential Institutions Redress Board and in relation to disability caused by thalidomide. Any payment made by the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Pensions reform is a Government priority and I can confirm an intention to publish and commence the implementation of a pensions reform plan in the near future. The plan will include measures relating to the introduction of a ‘Total Contributions Approach’ to the State pension for new pensioners, reform and simplification of the current supplementary pension landscape and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Rights (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Ireland has a comprehensive suite of employment rights legislation including measures to prevent exploitation in the workplace. We have a well-resourced labour inspectorate within the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), which is mandated to secure compliance with employment legislation. In addition, where employees believe that they have been deprived of an employment right, they may...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Department has a duty to ensure that it pays the right person the right amount of money at the right time. It is important that all schemes operated by the Department, including State Pension (non-contributory), are subject to ongoing control reviews and continuing eligibility checks. This includes conducting fraud and error surveys which serve to reaffirm the entitlement of randomly...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (17 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 39 together. There are three main State pensions. First, the State pension non-contributory is a means-tested pension funded from taxation. Second, the State pension contributory, which is not means-tested, is paid from the Social Insurance Fund, and is funded via the PRSI system. The third main state pension available to some people over 66 is...