Results 5,981-6,000 of 28,255 for speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: That is exactly what I will do. That was the purpose of setting up the Department.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: One has to have both.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: We are trying to do something about this and the Senator is opposing it.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: If the Senator had been here on time, he would know we dealt with that issue.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: It is in the regulations. We are going back over the debate we had on the previous section. The regulations clearly provide that if the distance involved in travelling to a course is unreasonable, it must be taken into account and, therefore, the Senator can discount that issue.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: In deference to the Senators who have been here all afternoon, we should not go back over issues that have been already dealt with. The situation with regard to this issue is a bit like St. Augustine saying please make me good, but not quite yet. I have a simple view on the issue. The Senator said he is all for catching people who defraud the system, but when a proposal is put forward on...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: If the Senator wishes to debate the banks, I will go to Gaoth Dobhair and debate them with him. What the Senator wants to do is to rob the depositors of the banks, but he does not understand the consequences of that. Let him explain that to the people of Donegal.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Yes, but I am trying to answer the point made by the Senator. All we are saying in this section is that we can create savings which we can reinvest to create new opportunities for those who are unemployed. I find it very difficult to understand why anybody would oppose that. I certainly do not think that those who oppose it are acting in the interest of those who are genuinely unemployed...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I do not think I am.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I am trying to give a broader view of what we are at. I believe what we have proposed already covers the issue of the appropriateness of qualifications. This is a red herring that is being raised and it has no validity.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The reason for this section is to provide for the recruitment of retired social welfare appeals officers to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. We debated this issue in the Dáil and there seemed to be some concern at the wording. I assure Senators that their concern that it might be possible for me to appoint my buddies is unfounded. It would be impossible for me to do that. The wording...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: One would hope at least that the Senator would be working, but maybe not.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: To answer the Senators' questions, eight retirees are working an average of two days per week. This is roughly equivalent to three full-time equivalents. This will continue to the end of the year. It is a temporary arrangement which will be reviewed at that stage. The Senator raised a very valid question as to their pay arrangements. They are paid on a per diem basis, based on the...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The appeals office is an independent office which does not come under my remit in its operation. However, I discussed with officials the need to ensure that simple appeals with clear solutions should not go down on the same flow chart as appeals dealing with means tests or medical reports. They must find ways of dealing quickly with the simpler appeals because the longer the queue, the more...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Eight. It will be for two days a week, equivalent to bringing back three full-time staff.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Yes.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The simple answer on this subject that I follow with interest, and I am not speaking ex cathedra anseo, is that the percentage has not changed dramatically. It is a percentage of the number of applications, not of the total number of people in payment. It concerns the number of people who have made new applications. There has been a surge in the number of applications for illness benefit...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I am trying to explain the appeals system. I am trying to be helpful to the Senators.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The number of appeals on certain schemes will be higher because there is a greater chance of success and there is a greater level of judgment. In means-tested cases, it is more likely that people did not provide the full information.

Seanad: Medicinal Products (13 Jul 2010)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh leis an Seanadóir as ucht an cheist seo a ardú anseo inniu. I am replying to this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. I am pleased to take this opportunity to outline the position in respect of the matter raised by the Senator. She will be aware that the Minister has met the Irish Thalidomide...