Results 4,421-4,440 of 4,782 for speaker:Olwyn Enright
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (1 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: Question 138: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when an appeal of a decision to refuse mortgage interest supplement in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Offaly will be concluded; the position regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14348/10]
- Ministerial Responsibilities. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: Question 56: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the new responsibilities allocated to his Department, including details of its responsibility to provide a cohesive system for unemployment to retraining and jobs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15642/10]
- Ministerial Responsibilities. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: I, too, wish the Minister well in his new portfolio. The Minister's predecessor, the current Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Mary Hanafin, indicated that she did not mind being removed from her previous portfolio because the Department's policy functions had been removed. I am paraphrasing rather than quoting the Minister directly but that was the import of her words. Will the...
- Ministerial Responsibilities. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: We would all like to see greater activation. It would have been better if the training section was within the Department itself, but that is for another day. Will the FÃS staff currently based in local FÃS offices now be placed in local social welfare offices? If that is the case, will they retain the status of public servant or will they become civil servants, as they would be in the...
- Tax and Social Welfare Codes. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: That programme is a disaster. The Minister is talking about 12 to 15 years before it comes into operation.
- Tax and Social Welfare Codes. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: There will have to be a supplementary Estimate.
- Response to Industrial Action. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: Question 58: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the impact current industrial action is having on applications for social welfare support; the number of social welfare claims delayed as a result of this action; his plans to address this backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15643/10]
- Response to Industrial Action. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: For almost two years we have been hearing of problems in some local offices. I and other colleagues have had dealings with the people working in those offices and they want to know when a solution will be found. The problem affects approximately 17 local offices. Delays in these offices are higher than anywhere else. Is there any sign of a resolution to the problem? We have been told...
- Response to Industrial Action. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: I agree with the Minister that the staff are helpful. The executive council of the CPSU has rejected the public sector pay deal and prior to Easter, we had a discussion in the House on the Order of Business with regard to contingency plans in the Department. Has the Minister considered contingency plans in the event of action being escalated and social welfare offices across the country...
- Pension Provisions. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: Question 59: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of defined benefit pension schemes which fail the minimum funding standard; the number of persons affected by this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15644/10]
- Pension Provisions. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: The national pensions framework has been published and we will have the opportunity to discuss it in more detail at the Select Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs tomorrow. Does the Minister propose to try and adopt what is in the framework in a cohesive, all-encompassing way or does he propose to make changes on a budgetary basis year in and out as has been done in the...
- Pension Provisions. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: Has the Minister taken into account-----
- Pension Provisions. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: The Minister can answer on the generality. Has he taken into account the judgment in the Robins case in the UK which gives the impression that the Waterford Crystal workers should be entitled to a greater share than they are receiving? Those staff feel utterly abandoned. They have received no support. Changes were made to the pensions legislation at that time which utterly ignored the...
- Pension Provisions. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: When will the outcome of that investigation be made available? Time and again in the House we hear that we are awaiting an outcome. A report was done on FIS, on which I asked a question, and we are still awaiting the outcome of that. Outcomes are what we are meant to be about here but we do not seem to know. The duty under Article 8 of the directive is to protect employees in insolvency...
- Pension Provisions. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: That lets the Minister slightly off the hook but he can certainly hurry it on. He will not be able to rely on that in court.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: Question 60: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his plans to introduce a partial capacity benefit scheme for people in receipt of illness or disability payments; the details of the way in which this scheme will operate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15645/10]
- Social Welfare Benefits. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: I welcome the theory behind this idea and it is important. The present system whereby a person gets permission from the Department to do 20 hours work for a year or up to three years and then that permission is suddenly removed is not ideal. Some people can do only approximately 20 hours or part-time work. Will there be an element of compulsion in the scheme or will it be voluntary?...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: I welcome that. In the proposals put to the Minister by the Department how was the scheme thought up? Was it devised as a mechanism to save money from illness benefit payments or was it devised as a mechanism to assist people to get back into the workforce? There is a big difference between them. The thought process behind it could inform us very much prior to the next debate. Does the...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: What changes have been made in advertising since the report was given to the Department? When was the report made available? I do not believe it has been published. Perhaps the Minister might let us have a copy of it. FIS was to have been the saviour for people on low incomes who had their child benefit payments reduced in the budget. How many people became eligible for FIS as a result...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (20 Apr 2010)
Olwyn Enright: That was prior to the report that suggested it needed more advertising. I am not suggesting television and newspaper advertisements. I am referring to contacting people through the social welfare offices.