Results 4,161-4,180 of 7,652 for speaker:Joanna Tuffy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (19 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: I thank the Minister and his officials for briefing us so comprehensively and thank Deputies and Senators for their questions. We are moving on to No. 6, the Education and Training Boards Bill 2011. I am sure members will be relieved to hear we are not going to deal with that now because there is no progress to report yet and, therefore, there will be no presentation on the Bill at this...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to review the planning and development regulations with a view to amending the regulations in which applicants are required to place planning notices in a national newspaper for proposed developments of a minor scale, such as an extension to a house; in view of the fact that the cost of placing such a notice is very...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Eligibility (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: To ask the Minister for Health if he will introduce an alternative scheme for persons on special diets like coeliac patients who due to the recent cuts announced by the Health Service Executive will no longer be entitled to free or subsidised gluten free food products for their condition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39945/12]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: At the request of the recording and broadcasting services I ask members to ensure their mobile telephones are turned off completely. Due to an extensive private session at our meeting yesterday I intend to go straight into public session this morning. We can deal with housekeeping matters at the end of the meeting if necessary. Is that agreed? Agreed. The first matter on our agenda is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: On which page is the table?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: Has bringing the universal social charge into the fund been considered? Would it be appropriate?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: It is general taxation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: Many people perceive the universal social charge as being similar to social insurance. Is there a possibility for them to be linked?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: Members will have an opportunity to raise some of these questions with the Minister when she appears before us next week and may at this time express their opinions, which will be noted.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: People pay contributions on the basis that they get certain returns. We cannot start to discriminate between categories of contributors if the contributions are the same.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: Yes. The other side of the argument is that the same thing happens in this country. Many people in Ireland get pensions from working abroad. It is probably a case of swings and roundabouts.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: It would be helpful to have that information. I notice the report indicates that the shortfall at the end of the projection period is now smaller than that projected in the 2005 review, and the reasons for this have been explained. For example, there is lower pension-related expenditure than previously projected and lower projected expenditure in a number of categories, such as jobseeker's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: Politicians may suggest certain actions but we do not have the information available to project the consequences of a certain approach. This amounts to more than just issues of policy. I submitted parliamentary questions that contained a "what if" proposal for getting rid of a tax relief, for example. The answer had an estimate of the yield to the Exchequer, although it was qualified to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: It is a matter we can raise with the Minister and we can revert to the witnesses. Some of the issues concern the self-employed, for example; if the self-employed do not get a contributory pension, the chances are they will be reliant on a non-contributory pension in future.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund: Discussion (20 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: Are there any further questions? I thank the officials. What has come out of the discussion is that it would be very helpful to us, as Oireachtas Members and members of the committee, to have a menu of options and if it was possible to talk to the Minister about that in terms of the range of options available to address the shortfall in the fund. I thank the officials for the...

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: An Dara Céim - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Second Stage (25 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: That is fine.

An Bille um an Aonú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Leanaí) 2012: An Dara Céim - Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012: Second Stage (25 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: That is agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Business of Joint Committee (26 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: I welcome the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, Ms Orlaigh Quinn, assistant secretary at the Department of Social Protection, and Mr. Brian O'Raghallaigh. The Minister is present to brief us on the agenda of the forthcoming EU Council of Ministers meeting on employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs in Luxembourg on 4 October and to discuss the pre-budgetary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: I invite the Minister to begin her briefing on the social protection aspects of the Council's agenda.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joanna Tuffy: I thank the Minister and will open the floor to members. I first will call on Deputy Ó Snodaigh, the Sinn Féin spokesperson.