Results 16,881-16,900 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The legislation governing entitlement to Disability Allowance currently provides that a person shall be disqualified from receipt of the allowance while she or he is resident, whether temporarily of permanently, outside the State. This is a standard provision in legislation and applies equally to a range of other schemes operated by the Department. Exceptionally, Disability Allowance may...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (23 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The details requested are not immediately available in my Department but are being compiled and my officials will write to the Deputy when this information is available.
- Written Answers — Equal Opportunities Employment: Equal Opportunities Employment (23 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: My Department currently exceeds the 3% national employment target of people with a disability set out in the Disability Act 2005. The following table sets out the number of staff with a disability employed in my department since the introduction of monitoring by the National Disability Authority under the Disability Act 2005. This information is based on self disclosure questionnaire/census...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Financial Resolutions (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I move: 1. THAT provision be made to amend the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 (No. 5 of 2009) in respect of the deduction from the remuneration of certain public servants who are members of certain occupational pension schemes or entitled to benefit under such a scheme or receive a payment in lieu of membership in such a schemeâ (a) by revising, in section 2 of...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 172, Standing Order 127 is modified to permit an instruction to the Committee on the Social Welfare Bill 2009, that it has power to make provision in the Bill to alter the provisions of the Social Welfare Bill 2009 in relation toâ 1. amending the Pensions Act 1990â (a) by amending section 48 of the Pensions Act to modify how the assets of a scheme...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: No.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Again, these measures have not been introduced for any one company. It is not about any particular emergency situation that is about to arise. There are all kinds of media speculation and comments, but that is not the reason. Schemes all over the country are winding up because those companies are insolvent and we want to ensure the workers in those companies can benefit from this. That is...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: It is because there are companies winding up as we speak. It is important we act now. With regard to the long-term measures-----
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The long-term measures are also crucial. We will bring that proposal forward within the coming weeks. I know Deputies will say they have heard that before. A number of key questions were asked which I would like to address and I have only a few minutes to speak. Deputy Enright asked about imposing an income limit. Bearing in mind that scheme members have paid into the scheme according to...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Any scheme in deficit will qualify for this. I shall take questions in the order in which they came. I was asked if an employee's name will feature. The very situation we are trying to avoid-----
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Where the company is insolvent.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Those are the two criteria.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Yes. On whether an employee would be identifiable, the Pensions Board will take the case and the employee will not be implicated as the whistleblower because the Pensions Board would have the evidence to bring the case. That is allowed by this proposal. Which companies are in and which are out? Obviously there is a process through which every company must go. Companies that need to get...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Again, that will depend on the scheme because it will depend on the level of assets the scheme has and also on the number of pensioners, the age of the pensioners, and so on.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: It is not possible at this stage to say which companies will qualify. We are in a very fluid situation economically and to know which companies are going to wind up-----
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I wish to make clear that when we are talking about the PIPS we are talking only about those schemes which are insolvent and where pension schemes are in deficit.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Each individual company and scheme is different so it is not for me to say which one is in or out because they would have to qualify under those dual requirements.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: There is an important question to answer with regard to the post-retirement increases. In total, only a third of schemes actually guarantee post-retirement increases and because this measure applies then only to those companies that are restructuring because of their difficulties or that are winding up and are insolvent, it will apply only to a small number of that third which have...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: We can see how well it is working. It is impossible to say at this stage how we will review a scheme when we have not even set it up. It is our intention to set it up now and see how it works. The intention behind it is to try to give some extra benefits for the workers.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Instruction to Committee (28 Apr 2009)
Mary Hanafin: That is what it is all about and that is what this legislation will do.