Results 1,241-1,260 of 5,269 for speaker:Joan Collins

Irish Water: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: I support the motion put down by Fianna Fáil on Irish Water but I wish to clarify that I do not support the cynical nature of Fianna Fáil tabling the motion. The party has fully supported the idea in the past. It maintains now that it supports charges for water but not at this time. It echoes the cynicism we have heard in the past.

Irish Water: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: I wish to deal with two areas quickly, because I realise I have only a minute and a half remaining. I want to concentrate on the idea of conservation. I cannot use the word "lie" in the Dáil-----

Irish Water: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: -----but certainly what has been said is not a truth in respect of conservation. If there was a real approach to conservation of water we would not have the energy regulator referring to how, if the revenue achieved through collection of water charges does not meet the cost, it will have to increase the cost of water charged to people. Water is a human right. A conservation programme...

Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: Yesterday, I received a distressed call from a constituent, Annie from Ballyfermot, a 79 year old age pensioner, who is in receipt of a widow’s contributory pension. Her husband died in 1977. On Friday, she went to the post office to collect her pension to discover it had been cut off. The reason was that she was subject to a random controlled check by the Department of Social...

Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: This sense of entitlement among the latter means their salaries have to be topped up by raiding funds donated by the public to provide services for people with disabilities and sick children, as well as raiding the shop at Crumlin children’s hospital. Of course, these same individuals also expect hugely inflated pensions when they leave their positions. This sense of entitlement we...

Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: The Government was supposed to change these things. The woman mentioned had her pension cut off while watching these things happen on television every day of the week. It is same old, same old. Does the Taoiseach think this is fair? Does he think it is fair that the people mentioned are still pocketing these pensions? Does he believe the actions of the Department of Social Protection...

Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: I resent that remark in referring to fraud and scams in respect of the woman in question. She is now part of what is called the scam book, about which the Taoiseach was talking, which gives the Minister for Social Protection her reason to have random checks. The facts of the matter are very straightforward. This is a 79 year old woman who spoke to them on the telephone. She was asked...

Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: Brian Cowen, Mary Harney and Mary Coughlan are still getting their pensions.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (22 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: 54. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of money he expects will save with the reduction in tax credits for single parents; and the number of persons that will be affected by the reduction. [3112/14]

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: I thank the Minister for her presentation and welcome her staff. I was not sure what today's meeting was about but I gather that it is a presentation of what was stated in the budget and how measures are implemented. I wish to raise a few issues regarding pending claims for the invalidity or disability pension. We have discovered that there is not a one-size-fits-all pension. To qualify...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: Yes. Can I ask another question on pensions?

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: The Minister mentioned that those over 62 can receive jobseeker's allowance, that the provision does not have to be job-activated and that it will be delivered once a year using electronic funding. Will the same system apply if the pension age is extended to 68? What will happen to the jobseeker's allowance in 2018 when a person reaches 67 years? Will the scheme be extended for a year...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: The latter question was not really answered.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: I have one question on future developments. I was watching a programme the other night which was more about England, where they are probably one step ahead of us. Generally, when England sneezes Ireland catches a cold. The general thrust in its employment regime and for people going back to work is to have an emphasis on being self-employed or that people work zero-hour contracts. Many...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: Given the change in employment patterns or the type of work people are getting, does the Minister envisage more of a need for people to access FIS? Has the Minister factored this in?

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: The Minister referred to social contracts. However, the type of work being created now is not the steady work that existed eight or ten years ago which was full-time and permanent up to retirement. Much of the work now is precarious. What is the impact of this?

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: Are people who commence any of the programmes we are discussing taken off the live register? In other words, are they all counted as being in employment or do different procedures apply in this regard in respect of different participants and schemes? On the fraud and control element to which the Minister referred, what are the criteria applying to recipients of jobseeker's payment in terms...

Topical Issue Debate: Waste Management Issues (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: I woke at approximately 7 a.m. on Saturday and I could smell the fumes from the fire. The smell was similar to what one would get if plastic or rubber were burned. I went downstairs to check that there was nothing wrong because I thought the house was on fire. I went back to bed and when I woke later, I heard the news that the Oxigen plant was on fire. Smoke from the fire spread to many...

Topical Issue Debate: Waste Management Issues (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: What is required is a speedy review and report on the implications of this fire. We need to know how the fire started and what was being stored in the plant. The EPA is the licensing authority. It knows what could have been stored in the plant. Many of these plants have been in place for many years when the regulation of waste disposal was non-existent. Any report should set out in plain...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Investigations (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Collins: 396. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of contributory pension payments and-or contributory pensions that have been cancelled due to pensioners not co-operating with her Department's controlled survey. [3896/14]