Results 4,221-4,240 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Ministerial Staff Data (21 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: All staff in my Department are Civil Servants and are appointed in compliance with the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. While the great majority of these civil servants appointments are on foot of a competitive process in accordance with the “Code of Practice for Appointment to Positions in the Civil Service and Public Service”, a small...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Administration (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The position is that no deductions of payment to persons on community employment schemes should be applied as a result of two red alert days recently. Clarification and guidance issued to all DEASP officers and Sponsors during this last week. Should any participants have any issues with this instruction not being applied they should refer to their local Intreo Centre immediately. I trust this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Application Forms (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 281 and 282 together. The policy of my Department is to ensure application forms are presented in a simple, clear, and easy to read format. Application forms are also made available on request in alternative formats, including audio and braille. The design and layout of each application form must also have regard to the particular requirements of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The number of persons under 25 years of age participating on a community employment scheme by county is currently being compiled and will be furnished to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Labour Activation Programmes (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department provides a range of activation supports and programmes catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market. These include activation supports such as Community Employment (CE), Tús and Local Employment Services (LES). The Deputy will appreciate that the welcome reduction in the unemployment rate is a factor in recruitment to all...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The aim of the Community Employment (CE) programme is to enhance the employability of disadvantaged and unemployed people by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. The programme helps break the cycle of unemployment and improve a person’s chances of returning to the labour market. A number of new conditions were introduced on CE in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme Expenditure (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: Deputies on all sides of the House are fully aware of the positive benefits derived from work schemes like the Rural Social Scheme (RSS). In recognition of the crucial work undertaken in rural communities under the scheme, and as part of the social welfare budget package for 2018, I announced an additional 250 places to be rolled out this year together with an increase in the weekly rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Unemployment Benefits Data (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The information requested by the Deputy is detailed in the following table: Recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance, Jobseeker’s Benefit or signing for Jobseeker’s Credits aged under 26 for 12 months or more at the end of February 2018 by county County Jobseeker’s Credits Only Jobseeker’s Allowance Jobseeker’s Benefit Carlow 1 156 0 Cavan 201 1...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: Government policy to reduce unemployment is twofold. First, through policies set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs; and second, through the Pathways to Work Strategy 2016-2020, to ensure that as many of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register, including...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Anti-Poverty Strategy (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: DEASP has started the process of developing a new Action Plan for social inclusion to tackle inequality and poverty over the period 2018-2021. Inspired by the aims and aspirations of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, the plan will aim to build an inclusive Ireland where no-one is left behind and support is provided to those most in need. The primary focus of the plan will be the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Universal Retirement Savings Group (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: In 2015, the last Government established a Universal Retirement Savings Group (URSG) to consider the constituent factors involved in constructing an efficient and effective universal supplementary retirement savings system. The work of the URSG concentrated on whether the optimal model would be one which would be mandatory for all workers currently without supplementary retirement savings or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The new Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) was announced as part of Budget 2018, and it will be open for applications from June. YESS is targeted at young people aged 18 to 24 who are long-term unemployed or who face barriers to employment. It aims to provide them with the opportunity to learn basic work and social skills in a supportive environment while on a work placement. Prior to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Low Pay Commission Report (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The laws governing the national minimum wage are set down in the National Minimum Wage Act 2000and the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015.The Acts provide for the setting of a national minimum wage (NMW), which is the minimum hourly rate that may be paid to an employee. They also provide that, in specified circumstances, such as younger workers and trainees, a reduced,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Anti-Social Behaviour (22 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: In the case of private rented accommodation, tenancy arrangements involve a contract between the landlord and the tenant. This Department is not party to this contractual arrangement. Tenants’ obligations and landlords’ duties in relation to anti-social behaviour are provided for in the legislative framework under the Residential Tenancies Acts. Under this legislation,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Sector Staff Retirements (27 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: I welcome the recent confirmation by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to increase to 70 the compulsory retirement age of public servants recruited before the 1st April 2004. In relation to compulsory retirement ages in the labour market more generally, there is no universal mandatory retirement age in Ireland. The setting of retirement age remains a matter for agreement...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (27 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The provisions for registering the name of a father, other than the person to whom the mother is married, are contained in section 22(3) of the Civil Registration Act 2004 (as amended): - Section 22(3)(a) provides for the registration of a person, other than the husband, as the father of the child on foot of a statutory declaration by the husband that he is not the father of the child. -...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Rights (27 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: There is no separate legal definition of the term “au pair” in Irish legislation, and individuals described as “au pairs”, “nannies” or “child-minders” are not exempted or treated as separate categories of workers under Irish employment law. Ireland’s body of employment rights legislation protects all employees who are legally...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (27 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Department operates a range of means tested social assistance payments. The means test takes account of the income and assets of the person (and spouse/partner, if applicable) applying for the relevant scheme. Income and assets include income from employment, self-employment, occupational pensions, maintenance payments as well as property owned (other than the family home) and capital...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (27 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: SAFE Level 2 registration is carried out by my Department and allows a person to verify their identity once, not just for access to services provided by the Department but also for an increasing number of public services. Once a person completes a SAFE 2 registration, they may be issued with a Public Services Card (PSC) as a physical token that proves they have had their identity verified to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (27 Mar 2018)

Regina Doherty: A policy to introduce the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to pensions calculation was adopted by Government in the National Pensions Framework in 2010, as was the decision to base the entitlements of all new pensioners on this approach from around 2020. The Government has confirmed its intention to proceed with that policy in its recently published Roadmap for Pensions Reform. To that...