Results 1,161-1,180 of 7,447 for speaker:John Brady

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (26 Oct 2017)

John Brady: 258. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to provide a pension scheme to supervisors and assistant supervisors in community employment schemes as recommended by the Labour Court; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45405/17]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Engagement with Committee for Labour and Social Protection, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of Romania (26 Oct 2017)

John Brady: The witnesses are very welcome to Ireland. I hope they are finding their trip enjoyable and informative. I hope their engagement with the committee this morning can be of some use. Many areas have been touched on and time will be precious here. I am interested in a couple of areas, including the issue of pensions, which has been touched on. It has been dealt with fairly comprehensively...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: 50. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has read Sinn Féin’s report on JobPath as issued to her; her views on the report's findings; the actions she will take as a result of the report's findings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46920/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: Before the recess, Sinn Féin launched a report into JobPath and sent it to the Minister. I have a copy here. Has the Minister received it? Has she looked through it? What are her thoughts on the report and, more importantly, what actions will she take in light of its content?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: I encourage the Minister to speak to the people who are on these schemes, rather than speaking to the private companies which are rolling them out, Turas Nua and Seetec. I note the Minister was in Wicklow speaking to one of those companies. That is exactly what I did in this report. I went out and gave those people a safe space to tell their stories, without the fear of having their...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: In making personal attacks on me, the Minister is attacking the hundreds and thousands of people who took part in this report.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: They are not individual one-off cases. There is a pattern in Turas Nua and Seetec right across the board and right across the State. These two companies are operating totally outside of their contracts. The Minister has not addressed that point, which is the core point. This JobPath scheme was set up to engage long-term unemployed people and it has deviated away from that completely....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: So there are no cases-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: Deputy Doherty is the Minister. Has she spoken to them?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: 52. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason lone parents are being forced to seek child maintenance from an ex-partner in order to retain their one-parent family payment; her plans to remove this rule; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46921/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: One of the conditions for receiving a one-parent family payment obliges lone parents to seek child maintenance from the other parent themselves. Why is that the case?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: I acknowledge it is not a new condition but that does not mean it is a fair one. It is an unnecessary condition for the receipt of the one-parent family payment. Why should the lone parent have to make contact or try to make contact with an ex-partner to seek child maintenance in order to receive a payment to which she or he should be entitled in the first place? Lone parents are raising...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: I think the Minister is missing the point here.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: I am not saying the ex-partner should get away scot free. On the contrary, what I am arguing for is the payment to be made to the lone parent and for the State to chase down the maintenance.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: Unfortunately, the situation for many lone parents is that the maintenance payment is being treated as household income. That is contrary to what it should be. It is a payment for the child; it is not household income. Unfortunately, what we see is that the payment is means tested for family income support and other payments, whether it is paid or not. That is the reality. It is putting...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: Does the Minister speak to organisations such as SPARK representing lone parents?

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: 64. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the actions she is taking to address the ongoing discrimination against over 35,000 older persons in the calculation of their State pension payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46704/17]

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: As the Minister may be aware, last December Sinn Féin brought forward a motion to address pension inequality for more than 35,000 older people, 68% of whom are women. What specific actions have been taken since then to address the inequality in the pension system?

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: I thank the Minister for her reply. I am not going to rehash everything that has been said about the approximately 36,000 older people directly affected but the changes that were introduced in 2012 were not brought in blindly in terms of the impact they would have, particularly on women. That information was available then, although there was no debate in here on it. The debate on the...

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

John Brady: I am not sure if the Minister actually read Sinn Féin's pre-budget submission. While we did not have any loose change at the end of it, we did put forward specific measures to address this serious problem which affects more than 35,000 older people. Our submission proposed reversing the changes that were introduced in 2012. That is a specific measure that could be implemented straight...