Results 6,801-6,820 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: From the Seanad (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The legislation is there and it works. I say to Deputy Bríd Smith that the advertising campaign that was run was not done to try to ascertain the size of the market, for the want of a better word to use. It was done because the vast majority of people in this country do not know that they can reclassify their employment status, that there is a section in the Department to help people...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: From the Seanad (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Deputy Coppinger gives me too much credit. With the legislative programme and the policy work of the Department, it is not physically possible to progress everything. I think I am deadly, but I am not that deadly. The work has progressed and will be brought forward in the new year.

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: From the Seanad (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I have no problem with Deputy O'Dea's amendment except it did not go through any of the pre-legislative scrutiny or public consultation. I was upset here in July because, had we accepted the amendment as we did, I then would have had to go through all of that pre-legislative scrutiny and public consultation before I could bring the Bill to the Seanad. We would not be standing here and...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: From the Seanad (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: While that sounds incredibly reasonable, the difficulty is that there is an amendment and a subsequent one in the Bill that do not allow me the time to commence them after a couple of months or even after a public consultation process. There is an amendment in the Bill that includes a date, after which the Bill cannot be commenced. Originally it was six months, but we had an argument and...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: From the Seanad (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank every Member in this House and in Seanad Éireann for their positive constructive participation in recent years on this Bill. One thing this shows is that every Member of this House and the Upper House has compassion and care for people who find themselves in less secure situations than we do. I want to pay particular tribute to a former Member. He is not in this House anymore...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: In April 2012, the number of paid contributions required to qualify for a state pension (contributory) increased from 260 to 520. This change was signalled well in advance of its introduction. In 1993, "Developing the National Pension System - Final Report of the National Pensions Board” was published, and recommended that the number of paid contributions required to qualify for a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Reviews (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Section 18 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2014 allows for discrimination on the grounds of age in respect of a prescribed class of persons in the provision of employment services and supports. The provisions in Section 18 facilitate the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, which was agreed by the European Council on 22 April 2013 to tackle the challenge of youth joblessness. My...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Support Services (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department provides a range of services and supports to assist people with disabilities in obtaining and sustaining employment. Many of these are national schemes rather than oriented at a specific area or region. First of all, my Department provides the Intreo service whose role includes the provision of support for people with a disability in reaching their employment ambitions....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Proposed Legislation (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Progressing legislation to protect the interests of workers has been one of my key objectives in 2018. I am very pleased therefore that the Employment Miscellaneous Provisions Bill will complete its passage this week and introduce important new protections - particularly for those workers in sectors where employment terms are perceived to be becoming more precarious. As deputies will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The back to education allowance scheme (BTEA), operated by my Department, provides people with a second chance education that will improve their prospects of securing employment. It enables eligible people to pursue approved education courses and to continue to receive income support for the duration of a course of study, subject to meeting certain conditions. There are currently 9,200...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Legislation (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Pensions reform is a Government priority. The ‘Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023', which I launched in February this year, details specific time-lined actions Government will take to reform our pension system. This includes the introduction, from 2022, of an ‘Automatic Enrolment’ retirement savings system, for those without personal retirement savings. This project...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card Data (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The purpose of our identity registration process, known as SAFE 2, is to verify a person’s identity to a substantial level of assurance. This is a necessary step when providing access to valuable state services including the income supports provided by my Department. A Public Service Card (PSC) can issue when a person's identity is verified to SAFE 2 standard. In addition to acting...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Measures (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill completed Report and Final stages in the Seanad on 12 December, 2018. It is scheduled to be re-entered in the Dáil for final consideration at Report Stage this week, after which it will be submitted to the President. The Bill is an important piece of legislation with a particular focus on improving the security and predictability of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (19 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 2012...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Overpayments of social welfare assistance and benefit payments arise as a consequence of decisions made under the relevant sections of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005 (as amended). Where an overpayment is raised, the Department is obligated to make every effort to recover sums overpaid. All debts owing to the Department, are repayable in full. The Department does not apply...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Legislation (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Scheme trustees have duties and responsibilities under trust law, under the Pensions 1990, as amended, and under other relevant legislation. The duties of pension scheme trustees include administering the scheme in accordance with the law and the terms of the trust deed and scheme rules as well as ensuring compliance with the requirements that apply to these schemes. Trustees must act in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Review (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: In assessing means for social assistance payments, account is taken of all income and property belonging to the claimant and his or her spouse or partner. Social welfare legislation provides that the yearly value of property (not including the family home) is assessable for means testing purposes by way of a formula set out in the legislation. In this regard, for most social assistance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Drug Rehabilitation Projects (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy is aware, Community Employment (CE) aims to help the long-term unemployed to re-enter the workforce by breaking their cycle of unemployment through a return to a regular work routine and through the provision of training and development. The Department continues to support the objectives of the national drugs strategy “Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery”...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department transferred administration of the Illness Benefit scheme to its core IT platform in August 2018. Although the system change has worked effectively for over 80% of IB customers, significant difficulties arose following implementation for a number of customers. My Department took three main steps to resolve the issues impacting on payments. First, deployed additional staff...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Payments (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The assessment of means for the purpose of qualifying for farm assist is designed to reflect the actual net income from farming. Income and expenditure figures for the preceding year are generally used as an indicator of the expected position in the following year. However, account is taken of any exceptional circumstances in order to ensure that the assessment accurately reflects the...