Results 6,381-6,400 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I cannot accept this amendment for several reasons. Firstly, the Department does not distinguish between child maintenance and adult maintenance generally. The purpose of means testing social welfare payments is to ensure that when resources are targeted, they hit the targets at whom they are aimed, that is, the people who need them most. Social welfare legislation provides for the means...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is €95.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: They are €95 a week better off because it is disregarded.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Yes.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I will answer two questions from Deputy O'Dea. First, that used to be the case but the practice was changed earlier this year for a number of reasons. We started looking at lone-parent families and the conditionality that was set and some of the precarious situations some women were put in and we addressed that. We also looked at the practice, which was not universally applied around the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: That is fine.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: If I have to do a report, I will do it. It is no big deal. Deputy Brady will need to remove the words "child maintenance" as Deputy Penrose suggested. It would be impossible for me to do it otherwise.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: That is fine.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Not really. I am not sure how I can be of any help. The two schemes are different. If we had a whole load of schemes with exactly the same rules and potential outcomes, we would have to ask why we did. Tús has a particular remit and CE schemes have a different one and that is why they have different rules.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Yes.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is no problem.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Deputies Penrose and O'Dea raised this issue in the Chamber last week. The only reason I did not table an amendment is that I am not 100% sure of the dates yet. If what the Deputy said is true, we will bring in an amendment on Report Stage. The Deputies do not have to worry. If it needs to be fixed, it will be fixed.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: That is great. Be absolutely assured that if the dates need to change, we will bring in an amendment.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (27 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: The household benefits package (HHB) comprises the electricity or gas allowance, and the free television licence. My Department will spend approximately €237 million this year on HHB for over 440,000 customers. There have been no recent changes to the eligibility criteria for the HHB package. The package is generally available to people living in the State aged 66 years or over...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Reviews (27 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: The sections in Part 9 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (CFRA 2015) that the Deputy refers to are amendments to the Civil Registration Act 2004 (CRA 2004) that allow for the registration and re-registration of births of donor-conceived children. These provisions fall within my remit, and as such, I can inform the Deputy that I intend to introduce a number of amendments to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Appeals (27 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: On 23 January last, the Government agreed to allow pensioners, born on or after the 1st September 1946, affected by the 2012 changes in rate bands, to have their state pension (contributory) entitlement calculated under an interim “Total Contributions Approach” (TCA).  The changes also provide for up to 20 years of home caring periods...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Working Family Payment Appeals (27 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly tax free payment which provides additional income support to employees, with children, on low earnings. The applicant, in order to qualify for working family payment, must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee for no less than 38 hours in a fortnight. According to our records Mr Miguel’s employment ceased on 31...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Applications (27 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Illness Benefit claim for the person concerned is medically certified and paid up to the 29th November 2018. If the person concerned remains ill and unfit for work, a further medical certificate should be submitted to the Department in order for further payments to issue. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Partial Capacity Benefit Scheme Applications (27 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Partial Capacity Benefit (PCB) allows a person who has been in receipt of Invalidity Pension and who may not have full capacity for work, to return to employment and continue to receive a partial or full payment from the Department. The PCB claim for the person concerned is the subject of an appeal with the Social Welfare Appeals Office. A submission has been sent to the Social Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (27 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned is in receipt of the maximum rate of Irish widow(er)’s or surviving civil  partner’s contributory pension payable under 66 years of age. The person concerned is also in receipt of a fuel allowance. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in the UK is the competent authority for the assessment of a person’s entitlement to benefits from the...