Results 7,361-7,380 of 19,409 for speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, subsection (1), line 11, after "Welfare" to insert "(Miscellaneous Provisions)". This amendment should be accepted given the change reflected in the motion on this Bill yesterday. The motion indicates that the Minister introduced a range of other provisions into what was originally a social welfare and pensions (No. 2) Bill. It is not only the social...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: The Minister has tabled amendments and I have said I am not opposed to some of them. We will deal with them when, hopefully, we get to them. My point, which is not a major one, is that we should include the words "miscellaneous provisions" in the Title because I tabled amendments which go slightly beyond the social welfare code and deal with child care and the proposal that this Bill be...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: This looks to be a technical amendment. Certain sections will enter into operation at some future point, in that the Minister "may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions", but the full list of what is being facilitated by the amendment includes...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: In her contributions, the Minister suggests there should be an engagement and that the entitlement would be gained after engagement. I do not know anybody in mortgage distress, on reduced working hours or unemployed, who would not willingly engage with his or her lender. The problem, as the briefing note suggests, is that for somebody to qualify for mortgage interest supplement there must...
- Community Employment Schemes (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Question 2: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the conclusions of her review of community employment schemes; if she will restore funding to the 2011 level; her plans for the future of CE; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20723/12]
- Community Employment Schemes (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: In December, the Government dropped a bombshell in regard to CE scheme participants and sponsor groups. The Minister then ran for cover using the review that was announced. There was to be a report in March but we now hear it could be a number of weeks or months before it is produced. Perhaps it will never be produced. Does the Minister accept that, for many CE schemes to survive at all,...
- Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I have listened to the debate on control savings, but will the Minister answer two short questions? Does she agree that the figure for fraud is â¬25 million, approximately 0.1% of the entire budget? Is it correct to state that the figure of â¬645 million, the latest figure devised by the Minister and her Department, was arrived at through the bizarre logic of assuming a situation in which...
- Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I said fraud cost â¬25 million and I called for more inspectors.
- Social Welfare Code (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I welcome the Minister's announcement that the carer's allowance will be excluded. It was excluded when the Department originally considered this matter but it reappeared subsequently. I ask for clarification on the half-rate payment and whether all carer's allowances will be excluded. There are two different types of half-rate payments, one for care of a second person and the other for...
- Social Welfare Code (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: This is a significant announcement which I think will be welcomed by carers' associations. The report of the joint committee recommended that carers should be able to opt in to the single payment. The logic behind the recommendation was that a carer could thereby access activation measures where the relative was so ill that he or she was about to be hospitalised or institutionalise.
- Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: My question is on a related issue. Because appeals take so long, people then approach the community welfare officer thereby adding to the bureaucracy. The sooner those backlogs in appeals are dealt with the less the bureaucracy in the Department as a whole. More reviews of different payments happen resulting in a logjam in them also. There are logjams in internal reviews in benefits such...
- Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: The Minister mentioned that 38% of refusals were overturned on appeal. That is a large figure which the Department should be concerned about and should attempt to address. When will the Minister confirm she is not going ahead with the changes to the disability allowance for 18 to 24 year olds? She pressed pause at Christmas but did not say it definitely would not go ahead.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I will not delay the House on this issue. This is an interesting change. There may be people who do not have the required number of contributions and the Minister is, through this change, allowing them to purchase extra contributions to bring them up to the required number. She is in effect allowing them to make a voluntary contribution. I do not believe there would be a huge level of...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: That is an example of how to phase in changes to pensions and so on. It ensures people are well aware of the changes before they come into effect. It is a pity this type of lead in period was not in place in respect of changes last year to the State pension transition or the accelerated change in terms of the pension age from 66 to 68 years. As the Minister has clarified the matter for me,...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I, too, believe that this section should be deleted. If the Minister does not accede to its deletion, I will oppose the Bill despite that some of the measures contained in it are good and some of the amendments are progressive in terms of addressing some of the anomalies within our code. I took the time to try to be helpful to the Minister, who told us last week in this House - none of us...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Earlier, the Minister remarked this was not a cost-cutting measure. If it is not, will she tell that to the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, who is sitting next to her? His contribution was, "If we had the money we would not be doing this". If one looks at what is being proposed, the vast majority of people have not come out against what the Minister is doing. There is a big if, however,...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I do not deny that.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I never suggested that.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: There are savings in it.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2012)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: The Minister's logic is strange. I agree with Deputy Fleming that the reason for this provision is starting to emerge. How will a change in the benefit somebody is getting make that person "financially independent", given that the person in question will end up on another benefit? I could understand it if that financial independence were to be delivered by allowing such people to avail of...