Results 7,961-7,980 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: My Department is committed to ensuring that the principles of due process and natural justice are followed in all claim decisions.  This applies equally to decisions at initial claim stage and when claims are subsequently reviewed. The Department’s guidelines on Decision Making and Natural Justice are published on the website - www.welfare.ie. This message is reinforced...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Cessation (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: Community Employment (CE) is a positive initiative that enables the long-term unemployed to make a contribution to their communities whilst up-skilling themselves for prospective future employment.  It helps to break the cycle of unemployment and improve a person’s chances of returning to the labour market.  The CE scheme has a budget to support around 21,600 participant...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: Overpayments of social welfare assistance and/or benefit payments arise as a consequence of decisions made under the relevant sections of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005 (as amended).  Official or departmental error overpayments arise where a Deciding Officer has incorrectly applied legislation, or incorrectly calculated the rate payable, or failed to act on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: Since late September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of approximately 90,000 pensioners, born on or after 1 September 1946, who have a reduced rate State pension contributory entitlement based on post Budget 2012 rate bands.  These payments are being reviewed under a new Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to pension calculation which includes...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Eligibility (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: Basic weekly supplementary welfare allowance, or SWA, may be paid to customers awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment.  In certain circumstances, if a person is not eligible for other social welfare payments and their weekly income is below the SWA rate for their family size, a payment may be made to bring their income up to the appropriate SWA...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 344 and 345 together. The information requested by the Deputy is provided in tabular form. The figures for 2019 refer to January and February. State Pension Non-contributory Year Registered Awarded Rejected 2013 9,429 7,445 2,351 2014 8,998 7,750 2,350 2015 9,732 7,675 2,188 2016 9,213 8,132 2,332 2017 9,187 7,577 2,139 2018 9,053 8,040 2,253 2019...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to discuss the Indecon reports we published earlier this year. I am looking forward to the questions of committee members arising from the presentation of the Irish Local Development Network. Before discussing the reports, it would be useful to give a brief overview of the evolution of policy and practice in the area of activation and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I know what the Deputy is talking about.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I will try to address the issues in the round and then answer the specific questions. If I have missed any in my notes, the members might shout. It is obvious that we all appreciate the services that have been provided by the LES and job clubs to hundreds of thousands of people down the years. We are appreciative of the services they have helped us to deliver. We have no intention of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: Yes. If I am here for long enough, I would have no problem doing so, but if we get this body of work done in the next couple of months, we need to consider putting a cross-departmental task force together immediately afterwards, or perhaps even in tandem, to examine specific geographical areas. There could be a proof-of-concept pilot. If it can get better outcomes for 1,000 people within...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: That is no problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: Absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: SICAP was an open competition tendering process which adheres to the EU procurement rules. There are lessons we can learn from how that tendering process was done before we go out to our own tendering process. It is all about outcomes and it has to be across every single scheme because, ultimately, the aim is to get somebody into long-term, sustainable, supported employment but it is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: It will depend on the service that is being contracted for. We will design the tender based on the service that is required. If that service requires a higher wraparound, it will not be the same kind of tender as it would be for service we want to help a person get work experience or training. There has to be an acknowledgement that different people are going to be travelling at different...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am glad Deputy Brady thinks so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I did.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I will clarify that before I continue. Is Deputy Brady referring specifically to any future tender for a JobPath-type activity? Is that what he means regarding the €20 million?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: That is fine. I am sorry, I understand now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I will start with SICAP. It was an open competition with public tender. When I mentioned lessons could be learned from it, I meant in the structure of the tender, the lot size and the awarding criteria. It was an interesting process and we have learned from that. We will take cognisance of those lessons when we are doing our own tendering process. The only advice I get as a Cabinet...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am not sure that I can come back to the committee in the middle of the tender design process but I hear the Chairman loud and clear.