Results 6,721-6,740 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Eligibility (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The issue of extending additional social insurance benefits to the self-employed paying class S PRSI was considered in the Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance fund (SIF) as at 31 December, 2015, which I published on the 18 October 2017. The review, required by legislation, was carried out by independent consultants, KPMG. It examines the projected income and expenditure of the SIF over...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) (18 Dec 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 in the calculation of that entitlement for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (18 Dec 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. In advance of this, on the 23rd January this year, the Government agreed to a proposal that will allow pensioners affected by the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Applications (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Department administers the Illness Benefit scheme to those customers who cannot work because they are sick or ill, provided they are covered by the appropriate class of social insurance (PRSI) and satisfy the PRSI conditions. The person concerned does not satisfy the PRSI qualifying conditions for a payment of Illness Benefit. It is open to the person concerned to apply for Disability...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Applications (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Illness Benefit claim for the person concerned has been processed and is paid up to the 15th December 2015. The person concerned claimed Illness Benefit from the 3rd December 2018 but as no payment is made for the first six days of Illness, these are commonly known as waiting days, payment commenced from the 10th December 2018. The claim is medically certified up to the 13th January 2019....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Rent supplement continues its vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 24,800 recipients at a total cost €179.5 million for 2018. Rent supplement is subject to a means test that is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of their rent, has at least an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. An increased payment can be made where full-time care is being provided to two people. The person concerned is in receipt...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Provisions in respect of the recovery of sums overpaid from the estates of deceased customers has been a feature of the social welfare system for several decades. Sections 18 and 19 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1960 made provision for this matter with respect to pension payments. The provisions were subsequently broadened to cover other overpayments on other schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Data (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department provides a range of activation supports to enable persons in receipt of a jobseeker's payment, to move to full-time employment with a sustainable income. These supports include the JobPath Service, which was launched in July 2015. JobPath provides an intensive personal service which focuses on the skills and experience of each person. To date, just over 195,000 clients have...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Payments (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: In line with other EU and OECD jurisdictions where such measures feature, reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009 and extended to those under 26 in Budget 2014. Lower weekly rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were introduced to protect young people from welfare dependency by providing them with a strong financial...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is ten.

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Senator will have to excuse me for being confused. In my head, I am hearing two separate issues here which do not relate to each other. If I am answering the wrong one, I ask the Senator to give me the nod. On the public consultations on total contributions, not a single decision has been made, not one. If we arrive at 30 years with ten years' credits, it will be because we have...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: We introduced 20 years of credits for this interim period.

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I understand what the Deputy means.

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Senator was looking for the report to satisfy herself as to who was going to be excluded from receiving a full pension on the basis of not having either 20 years work with 20 years caring or 30 years work with ten years caring. The difficulty I have with this is that it is not new. The move to this model was flagged back in 1994, and the reason we changed from 260 initial contributions...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: With ten years' credit.

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: No, because we are increasing the contributions to 20 years.

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am sorry the Senator feels that way because I can genuinely tell her that we have not made any decisions. I have not started reading all of the propositions that have come in to us from the various people who have made their views known. I can say that categorically a week before Christmas. If we stay at 30 years, then we will limit the caring credit to ten years. If we move to 40...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: We are not moving the goalposts. The only reason we would consider moving to 40 years is because people who will retire from 2020 onwards will have had the opportunity to have had 20 full years plus working, because they will be 66 or 67 at that stage. In addition, we are adding in the gaps for caring. We changed the caring credit. Historically, the homemaker's credit was only for women...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Not for the new system.