Results 18,701-18,720 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: We also protected children of vulnerable families from cuts to child benefit. Senator Norris mentioned suitability with regard to education and is absolutely right. I saw a very good example in Limerick where people had been referred to the national employment action plan from the social welfare office. Some were sent to FÁS and others to the local employment service. The local employment...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: It is an excellent example which I have been trying to encourage. With all of the various agencies involved now working together, we should be able to do so. With regard to the national anti-poverty strategy, we are still on target because the average industrial wage has decreased. Because incomes in the private sector have decreased, the relativity is affected.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The poverty impact assessment that is usually published with the budget is normally carried out by the Department of Finance in respect of taxation changes. As there were no taxation changes in this budget, the assessment was not attached to it. The poverty impact assessment should then have been carried out by researchers in the Combat Poverty Agency, or wherever. Those people, with all...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The increase in the qualified child allowance.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Senators McFadden and Buttimer raised certain issues concerning the disincentive to work. It is very important that we ensure we keep an incentive to work. The value of family income supplement is that the low income earner can bridge the gap between social welfare and low paid employment. We have, therefore, protected it. We have also protected child benefit for those on family...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: On the flooding, because the issue is important, a sum of €10 million has been made available in humanitarian aid. So far community welfare officers have assisted 1,300 families. Many of the claims submitted to date have been quite small, but we envisage that, as people go back to their homes, they will realise exactly what is needed and the fund will be available to them. We, therefore,...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Will I speak to the amendment first or to the section as well?

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Senator Norris is correct in what he is proposing but having said that, I will wait to deal with it in the social welfare Bill which is due to be passed in March or April.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The legislation provides that a person can be refused a payment if he or she turns down an offer of employment. Therefore, a person's application can be reviewed to ascertain if he or she is genuinely seeking work. There is no provision in any legislation to allow for the payment to be reduced. Therefore, we need to bring forward an amendment in the next legislation which will allow for...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The community welfare officers will be guided by the existing legislation which provides that one can investigate the person concerned to ascertain if he or she is genuinely seeking work. If the person is not, he or she can be cut off benefit for a period of up to nine weeks. That in itself can be quite stringent. A social welfare officer can do that and the person concerned can then go to...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I have evidence from employers of people who have turned down offers of jobs and said they would be better off on the dole.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: That is a legitimate reason for taking somebody off benefit. Unfortunately, I have heard, as I did from Senator colleagues this morning, that employers in the construction industry are not able to get people to take up jobs. The same applies to shopkeepers. People have told them they would be better off on the dole. The employers will not give the names of those individuals nor will they...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: People generally have found their experience of the social welfare office, once they are in receipt of payment, to be a positive one. The social welfare office does not take benefit from recipients unless there is good evidence to show that they no longer deserve it. When one considers the national employment action plan under which people are called to FÁS for interview with a view to...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: If there is a vexatious complaint, the person about whom the complaint is being made might not even know a complaint has been made. It is not as if one would go off investigating them. For example, people complain about lone parents cohabiting. That is very difficult to prove because the lone parent can say it only happened yesterday.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: How does one stop a back payment? I heard yesterday of an inspector who was sitting outside someone's door at 7 a.m. to see who was coming out.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Exactly, and so does the inspector-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: -----but that is part of the rules on cohabitation. We get many complaints in regard to that. People complain about those on disability payments being well able to work. What many do not realise is that as a lone parent one can earn €145 and still get one's full payment. One can still work when claiming disability benefit. People seem to think that it is a case of one or the other. A...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: No, there are no sanctions against a person making a complaint. In fairness, we cannot question a person's bona fides when what he or she is trying to do is save the public money. One does not create difficulty for the person against whom a complaint is made because the person might not even be aware of it. Inspectors do not arrive on a person's doorstep and say that a complaint has been...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: It is mostly women.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2009)

Mary Hanafin: There are thousands of lone parents in this country who do not come next, nigh nor near the social welfare system who are in employment and who make a full contribution to the economic life of this country and who resent the debate that takes place around lone parents who are on social welfare. However, there are approximately 90,000 lone parents depending on social welfare, a number which...