Results 9,061-9,080 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (24 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I hear the Senator.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The public services card, PSC, was provided for in legislation in 1998 when it was introduced alongside the personal public service number, PPSN to replace the previous revenue and social insurance, RSI, number and the social service card, SSC. The clear and stated objective, as articulated in Oireachtas at that time, was that the public services card was not to be confined to welfare...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I would love to tell the Deputy that I had the pleasure of reading the report on several occasions. However, I am not sure I would describe it as a pleasure. I have, however, read it several times. The Deputy is right that it is a comprehensive document which runs to some 170 pages, plus an annex. It is significantly different by some 40 pages and four findings from the draft report we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The response is in the written reply I would have read if I had been allowed to do so.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I did not mean by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: This is a comprehensive issue.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: In October 2017 the Data Protection Commission commenced an investigation into the standard authentication framework environment, SAFE, and public services card process. It delivered its final report to the Department on 15 August 2019. On 17 September the Department published the report, together with a summary of its own response to the findings made in the report. As I stated earlier...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Family Law Acts place a legal obligation on parents to maintain their children. In cases where the family unit has broken down, these obligations continue to apply. Relevant maintenance payments can be arranged either directly between the parties themselves, or with the assistance of support from the Department of Justice and Equality such as the Family Mediation Service and the Legal...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The proposal Deputy Brady made last year was fairly well received by everybody affected by this. It forms the basis of a good start. When I look at international best practice, the UK comes in fifth place. I am surprised by that given that its legal set-up is so similar to our own. We are looking at Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Finland, all of whose agencies achieve very good outcomes....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I believe we are on the same page so I will not split hairs. What the Deputy has just put on the record of the House, however, is not a true reflection of our decision on liable relatives. In the vast majority of those 18,000 cases the people pay maintenance directly. They do not come through us, so it is not a fair reflection of the work of the people in that unit that only 2,400 or...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy will be aware, community employment, CE, schemes deliver on a number of our objectives. They provide a means for people to gain valuable work experience as a stepping stone to full-time employment, they deliver valuable services in our communities, towns and villages, and they help people who are genuinely long-term unemployed, are far removed from the workforce, and who have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The date for the final meeting will be set in the next day or two. I know that I said "shortly" in July, but this "shortly" is different. I expect the last meeting of the interdepartmental group to be held in the coming weeks, if not earlier. It is at that meeting that decisions will be made on the recommendations, so I cannot tell the Deputy now what will be decided. It will be decided...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am sorry if I misheard. Is the Deputy asking about the ramifications of a hard Brexit?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: CE schemes are established to help people who are unemployed for the long term. Anybody unfortunate to lose his or her job as a result of a hard Brexit, which we all hope does not occur, will not be unemployed for the long term if our plans for the next year can move him or her into one of the new jobs being created. I am mindful that CE schemes exist to do a particular job. I am not sure...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: Are we taking Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together. The Government has committed to making the needs of families, and achieving better outcomes for them, a priority, especially those under the aegis of our Department who are most at risk of poverty. Over the past three budgets, the maximum rates of all weekly payments have increased by €15. Last year, I increased the payments to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I did not evade the question; I answered the exact question submitted to me, which sought an update on the negotiations. As I suggested to the Deputy, the only thing I put on the record publicly in any newspapers — I do not know where he is reading what he is reading — is that my job is to make sure that, in every budget, the limited funds I get, whether they are small or big,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The answer is "Yes". I am well able to do it. I hope that the last two budgets show the Deputy that we get relatively decent outcomes from the discussions. I love the idea of a children's budget except that children are not the only people in the country who are most vulnerable. Included are their parents, who in many cases are lone parents. Some of the most affected are those with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: At the moment, we are being told there is no extra money. Given that I do not have the ability to raise revenue in my Department, I am at the mercy of others. I am, however, very aware of what I need to do. I am certainly not shy about asking for what I want and I value the Deputy's support.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: Did the Deputy just say "grey panthers"?