Results 7,121-7,140 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: It is well known that people are living for much longer. This is very positive. As a result of this demographic change, the number of State pension recipients is increasing year on year. This has significant implications for the future costs of State pension provision which are currently increasing by approximately €1 billion every 5 years. The purpose of changes to the State...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: In January last year I announced a new Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to calculating the entitlement of pensioners who reached state pension age from September 2012 (i.e., those born on or after 1 September 1946). This approach is expected to significantly benefit many people, particularly women, whose work history includes an extended period of time outside the paid workplace, while...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Jobseeker’s Allowance is a means tested social assistance scheme operated by my Department. For means testing purposes, account is taken of the income and assets of both the claimant and his or her spouse or partner, including the earnings of the spouse. Where a claimant or their spouse or partner has earnings from insurable employment, earnings less PRSI contributions, pension...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance Payments (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: People within PRSI Class A are those in industrial, commercial and service-type employment who are employed under a contract of service with reckonable pay of €38 or more per week from all employments, and Civil and Public Servants recruited from 6 April 1995. Currently, there is no set number of hours per week that must be worked. Until 1991 the threshold for access to social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Government intends to introduce a Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to establishing the level of entitlement for all new state pension contributory claims from 2020 onwards (TCA2020). I launched a public consultation on the design of the full TCA to be introduced from 2020 on the 28th of May to which a wide variety of stakeholder groups were invited. A number of workshops were...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Partial Capacity Benefit Scheme Applications (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Partial Capacity Benefit allows a person who has been in receipt of Illness Benefit for six months 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 personal rate of payment is based on the assessment of the restriction on capacity for work i.e. moderate, severe or profound, where a person retains...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Since the end of September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of pensioners born on or after 1 September 1946 who were awarded state pension (contributory) on reduced post Budget 2012 rate bands. This work includes new claimants who were awarded reduced rate state pension (contributory) since the Government decision. The required primary legislative...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Applications (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned attended Killarney Intreo Centre on 22/1/19 and was interviewed by a Social Welfare Inspector regarding his Jobseekers Allowance application, as it is a means tested scheme. During the course of this interview he was informed of the option of applying for Farm Assist and was issued the relevant form for this scheme. He was contacted today and was advised that he may have...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Since the end of September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of pensioners born on or after 1 September 1946 who were awarded state pension (contributory) on reduced post Budget 2012 rate bands. Information letters were issued to these pensioners explaining that my Department will contact them again to either inform them about the outcome of their review or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Since the end of September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of pensioners born on or after 1 September 1946 who were awarded state pension (contributory) on reduced post Budget 2012 rate bands. Information letters were issued to these pensioners explaining that my Department will contact them again to either inform them about the outcome of their review or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Working Family Payment Applications (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Working Family Payment (WFP) is a weekly in-work payment which provides additional income support to employees on low earnings with children. An application for WFP was received from the person concerned on 21 January 2019. The Department wrote to the applicant on 31 January 2019 to request further details. On receipt of the requested details, the application will be processed without delay...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Work Family Dividend Scheme (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: A claim for Back to Work Family Dividend was made by the person in question on 10 January, 2019. This claim was awarded on 29 January, 2019 effective from 10 January, 2019. The Back to Work Family Dividend claim has now been suspended as the spouse of the person in question has been awarded a Jobseeker's Allowance payment. The person in question no longer has an entitlement to a Back to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Payments (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: A claim for Jobseeker’s Allowance by the person in question was registered in Roscommon Intreo Centre on 22 January, 2019. It was necessary to seek further information from the person in question and this information was received on 29 January. The Jobseeker’s Allowance claim has now been decided and a payment will be made on Thursday 7 February. Claims are decided as soon as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Working Family Payment Applications (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Working Family Payment (WFP) is an in-work payment which provides additional income support to employees on low earnings with children. In order to qualify for WFP, the applicant or the applicant and their spouse, partner or cohabitant must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee for not less than 38 hours per fortnight. An application for WFP was received from the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Class S PRSI was introduced for the self-employed in 1988. Prior to 1988 the self-employed could maintain their social insurance record by paying Voluntary Contributions, once they had already been an employed contributor and met the qualifying conditions of the Voluntary Contributions scheme. Generally, Voluntary Contributions maintained entitlement to a limited range of pension payments,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: My officials have made contact with the Deputy's office and on discussion it would appear this question is appropriate to my colleague Minister Heather Humphreys T.D. in the Department of Business , Enterprise and Innovation.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Data (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. An urgent needs payment (UNP) may be made to persons who may not normally qualify for SWA but who have an urgent need which they cannot meet...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: At the outset, it should be noted that credited contributions do not assist a person in qualifying for a pension, in the way that paid contributions do. They may, however, improve the rate of payment for which a pensioner qualifies. The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to provide income support for low income farmers. It replaced the former smallholders’ unemployment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Data (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Since the end of September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of pensioners born on or after 1 September 1946 who were awarded state pension (contributory) on reduced post Budget 2012 rate bands. Due to the numbers involved, the process will take a number of months to complete. Where possible, my Department will use information already held to assist...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (5 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Since the end of September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of pensioners born on or after 1 September 1946 who were awarded state pension (contributory) on reduced post Budget 2012 rate bands. Information letters were issued to these pensioners explaining that my Department will contact them again to either inform them about the outcome of their review or...