Results 5,321-5,340 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (11 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Government acknowledges the crucial role that family carers play and is fully committed to supporting carers in that role. This commitment is recognised in both the Programme for a Partnership Government and the National Carers’ Strategy. Carer's allowance (CA) is a means tested payment, made to people who are providing full-time care and attention to elderly people or to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Customer Charters (11 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The number of complaints received by year under the Customer Charter can be found in Table 1. In reviewing the level of complaints, it is important to be mindful of the scale of the Department’s services, for example, in 2017, the Department processed over 1.7 million applications and received a total of 1,077 complaints. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Data Sharing Arrangements (11 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: As the Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018 is still under consideration by Government, my Department will not be in a position to prepare or implement plans until the final outcome of the bill is known. It is my understanding that this Bill in its current format will provide the legal basis for sharing data, including personal data, among certain public sector bodies and will assist in...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: I apologise for the delay. I was about to start last night when we adjourned. I share Deputy Willie O'Dea's concerns about bogus self-employment. I think everybody else in the House does too. This Bill is not an appropriate vehicle for the amendment that has been tabled on Report Stage. The amendment would have such an impact and is so detailed and worthy that it should be subject to...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: Earlier in the debate, I gave a brief overview of the process the scrutiny of the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill has undergone to date. It is only right the Bill should be subject to comprehensive scrutiny. What I have difficulty with is that the amendment has not been subject to any scrutiny or consultation with a broad range of stakeholders who are likely to be affected by it....

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is the second contribution he has made.

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am always fascinated by some of the contributions when Members get so sarcastic and personal towards each other. Whether we think we are winning each other over or peeving each other off, it is quite interesting to watch. I want to say again for the record that I totally appreciate what Deputy O'Dea is trying to do. I genuinely do, and I hope he believes me. To answer Deputy Brady's...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: -----are all run on the basis of contracting and freelance, or whatever we want to call this new world. While those arrangements might have been engaged in co-operatively between the employer and the employee, the State is losing money. It is not the Government that is losing out. People have said on a number of occasions today that the Government is losing money. It is not the...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: Now.

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank all the Deputies, particularly the social protection spokespersons and the members of the Oireachtas joint committee, for their input into the Bill over the past year. As I said on a number of occasions today, we have done extensive public consultation. I thank the University of Limerick for the work it did, as well as all the other bodies that were involved, including Mandate,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Direct Provision Data (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: Ireland has opted in to the EU (recast) Reception Conditions Directive with effect from 30 June 2018. As a result, direct provision allowance is being renamed daily expenses allowance. The Government has provided over €5.6 million for the allowance in 2018. This payment is administered by my Department on behalf of the Department of Justice and Equality and is paid to applicants for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The full year cost of reversing changes made to the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) would be very difficult to estimate with any accuracy. There are three significant barriers to undertaking such an exercise. Firstly, a reversal of the amendments made to the OFP scheme could result in a cohort of lone parents that are currently not in receipt of a social welfare payment becoming eligible...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Weather Events Response (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week from October to April, to over 364,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €227 million in 2018. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,580 schools and organisations benefiting 250,000 children at a total cost of €54 million in 2018 representing an increase of €6.5 million over the previous year. The objective of the scheme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good quality food, to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff Data (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The following table provides the ratio of men and women at each civil service grade within my Department at 30h June 2018. Grade Male (FTE) Female (FTE) Ratio Service Officer 127.10 18.94 6.71 : 1.00 Clerical Officer 583.14 1921.29 1.00 : 3.29 Executive Officer 446.21 982.90 1.00 : 2.20 Higher Executive Officer 546.84 959.25 1.00 : 1.75 Administrative Officer 17.00 9.55 1.78 : 1.00...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: Community Employment (CE) schemes are typically sponsored by groups (known as CE Sponsors) wishing to benefit the local community. Such schemes provide a valuable service to local communities, while at the same time, providing training and educational opportunities to job seekers. The CE Programme has a budget of €350.03m. At the end of June 2018, there were 21,026 CE participants...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) Applications (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who will consider the appeal in light of all the evidence submitted. It is expected that that a decision will issue to the person concerned within the next week. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Capital Expenditure Programme (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department has not provided funding towards capital projects in counties Meath and Louth during the period 2016 to 2018. As a Department our aim is to provide active participation and inclusion in society through the provision of income support, employment services and other services. Department funding is not delivered on a county basis. The Department can however provide the Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Local Authority Funding (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The only applications for funding received by my Department from Meath and Louth County Councils during the period concerned were in respect of wages for participants on the Gateway programme. Details are outlined in the following Table. Gateway - Louth & Meath County Councils 2016 2017 2018 Applications received and approved from Louth CC 1 1 0 Louth County Council number of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (12 Jul 2018)

Regina Doherty: The introduction of a total contributions approach, TCA, to pensions calculation was signalled by the then Government in the national pensions framework in 2010, with a target date of 2020 for its implementation. On 23 January last, this Government agreed to a proposal that will allow pensioners affected by the 2012 changes in rate bands to have their pension entitlement calculated on a TCA...