Results 18,961-18,980 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Labour Activation Measures (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: If the Deputy were organising a consultation, he would only consult with people he knows will agree with him. There is a wide range of people on the Labour Market Council including, for example, Breda O'Brien from the INOU, and people from ICTU. If someone is serious about a consultation, he or she does not just consult the people whom he or she believes are ideologically aligned with him...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Labour Activation Measures (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to remember where JobBridge came from. It arose at a time when people with good qualifications could not get employment and employers could not afford to take people on. We are now in a different space. Employers can afford to take people on, and they should. They certainly should not rely on the State to meet their labour costs. It also arose at a time when there was an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Labour Activation Measures (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Participation inJobBridge was always voluntary for the person taking part and the employer.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Labour Activation Measures (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Something that pays the minimum wage is a job, not a scheme. There is a difference between schemes and jobs. I do not necessarily agree with the Deputy that every scheme has to have a qualification at the end of it, although I do not rule that out. However, there is a value in gaining work experience. I am not sure if the Deputy has ever participated in an unpaid internship, but there is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Registration of Births (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for bringing this sensitive issue to my attention some weeks ago. As Members will be aware, I previously announced that I intended to look at the issue of the fee charged for a certificate of stillbirth registration. I am very pleased to inform the House that I have dealt with this matter quickly and that the fee for the certificate of a registration of stillbirth is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Registration of Births (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Section 12 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 provides for the provision of information on a death which occurs during the first seven days of life of a child born alive. This is known as an early neo-natal death. The section has not yet been commenced owing to industrial relations issues within the HSE. Once these issues are resolved, it is my intention to commence the section...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Registration of Births (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for bringing the matter to my attention and my officials and I were very happy to be able to make the change. There are approximately 240 registrations of stillbirths in Ireland every year. While waiving the fee has a small impact in terms of the loss to the HSE of some €5,000, there was no difficulty from the point of view of the Department of Health or the HSE in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Implementation (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The JobPath companies Turas Nua and Seetec have considerable experience in successfully delivering employment services. They are very conscious of the challenges faced by people who have been unemployed for a long time and the need to provide suitable supports for such persons to help them back into work. Thus far, approximately 38,000 people have been referred to JobPath and the response...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Implementation (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy has pointed out, nearly 40,000 people have been referred to JobPath, of whom thousands have managed to get employment. I do not doubt that there are individuals who have had bad experiences. In some cases, this is because the engagement is a tense one. When people have been on the carousel of CE schemes, training and more CE schemes, getting one-to-one attention is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Implementation (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: If the Deputy has solid or empirical evidence of creaming or cherrypicking, my officials and I would like to see and study it. To avoid cherrypicking, we have included the use of PEX scores in contracts. People are assessed by departmental officials and assigned scores based on the likelihood of their finding jobs on their own at the top of the scale to having great difficulty finding jobs...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Since January 2011, public office holders pay PRSI at the Class K rate of 4% on their income as an office holder, provided that income exceeds €5,200 a year. All public office holders are liable to pay the contribution regardless of age. Payment of Class K PRSI does not establish any social insurance entitlements. Prior to the introduction of the Class K charge, all public office...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Reflecting the impact of government policy, and the overall improvement in the labour market, youth unemployment has fallen substantially to 15% in May 2016. This compares with a figure of almost...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Pathways to Work includes a wide range of programmes and services - such as the Gateway initiative - to help jobseekers back to employment. Gateway provides work placements in local authorities for a period of 22 months for those who are unemployed for more than two years. While the majority of participants are selected on a random basis by my Department, the opportunity for voluntary or...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 20 together. Job Clubs assist “job-ready” jobseekers to secure paid employment in the open labour market. Job Clubs provide formal workshops, one-to-one engagements, CV preparation and a ‘drop-in’ facility where jobseekers can get advice and share experiences with other jobseekers. Community Employment is an employment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome the recent publication of the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice’s (VPSJ) report on the 2016 update of the expenditure and income required for a minimum essential standard of living. After a series of challenging years, improvements for people in receipt of social welfare payments began in Budget 2015 and continued in Budget 2016. These improvements are reflected...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy is aware, the purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support aimed at low-income farmers and fishermen in receipt of certain social welfare payments who are underemployed in their primary occupation. Persons are engaged for 19½ hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. The scheme currently provides work...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2016 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of almost €85 million on the farm...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: My Department estimates spending €500 million on the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme in 2016. The scheme supports over 41,000 recipients and almost 74,300 children. The figure quoted by St. Vincent de Paul is based on SILC data for 2014 indicating a basic deprivation rate for lone parents of 58.7%. This was a decrease of 4.5% on 2013. Research shows that being at work...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Programme for Government Initiatives (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 43 and 47 together. The recently agreed programme for a partnership government provides for a range of actions that are designed to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. One of these actions is a proposal for the Departments of Health and Social Protection to work together to pursue a “Fit for Work” programme to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Waiting Times (30 Jun 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Unfortunately, there are currently delays in the processing of new carer's allowance (CA) applications. The Department is working hard to improve the processing times for CA applications. Additional resources have been applied to assist with these increases and overtime is being applied where appropriate. The continuing increase in the number of applications being received is a key factor...