Results 6,861-6,880 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: A total of 800,000 people have not rung to say they have received the card. Does market research or a public information campaign exist? It seems very wasteful not to activate a card if someone has it because it could easily go out in the bin and the Department would have to reissue it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: So they use them but they have not been activated?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: What about the lifespan of the cards?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: Turning to how the Department's functions, there is a very different narrative. I take the point made by Deputy Connolly. I must say that it jars with me as well. It is very difficult when one hears the narrative about people not being tax compliant. It is called aggressive tax planning and there is talk of loopholes. Even the Government refuses to take an appeal involving a large amount...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: I personally have not seen that it is an improvement but I will come back to Ms O'Donoghue on that more directly.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: Constituency offices of politicians might be a good target for finding out more because we know what additional work is generated and people tell us that calls to the Department are not being answered. The housing assistant payment, previously rent assistance, is another function that has transferred to the local authorities in large parts of the country. This transfer will have freed up...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: On working with the local authorities, increasingly one meets people who are unable to obtain a letter from the Department of Social Protection to give to the local authority to verify rent or to change rents. We are talking about citizens - I have a problem with the Department's practice of calling them "customers" - and while there is co-operation, sometimes it is not at citizen level. I...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: On delays in payments, some contributors have placed emphasis on fraud and so on. I have noticed six-month delays in having a pension application turned around. That is the kind of timeline involved in cases I am dealing with.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: It is a contributory pension.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: No, there have not even been acknowledgements. I am not talking about a single case. I am looking at trends because I-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: Yes, for contributory pension and I am finding the delays are getting longer, unless I am getting very unusual-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: There are very lengthy delays for respite grants. Four months looks like the-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: These are respite grants where the reply came in.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: I will come back to Ms O'Donoghue directly with these cases. The point I am making is that there is a large number of staff available and I wonder how the Department is managing this. We are talking about the experience of people who have contributed all their lives and face an inordinate delay getting something to which they are entitled.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: I would like to ask a couple of brief questions about JobPath. This scheme is also in operation in the UK. There was much criticism in advance of it being rolled out here. Did the Department undertake an analysis of the UK scheme? What contractual obligations have been already entered into and what has been the experience?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: How much are the contractors paid?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: Will Ms O'Donoghue forward the information to the committee?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: In regard to mandatory participation in the scheme, what quality controls are in place in terms of the suitability of the offers made?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: In regard to other activation measures, it would appear that JobPath takes prominence over Tús. Is that how the Department designed it?

Other Questions: Consular Services Representations (25 Oct 2016)

Catherine Murphy: 64. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his Department's plans in view of the most recent and fifteenth postponement of a person's trial in Egypt (details supplied); his views on whether previous attempts to resolve the case need to be amended and a new strategy adopted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30284/16]