Results 20,041-20,060 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Other Questions: Pension Provisions (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The rate of payment of a State contributory pension to a person is related to the number of contributions made by the person during the years into the Social Insurance Fund. There is also a widow’s contributory pension which is generally paid at the full contributory pension rate. The exact same rules apply to women as men. Entitlement levels are calculated by means of a yearly...

Other Questions: Pension Provisions (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy has spoken about three aspects of the issue. There is a minimum number of contributions people have to have made to receive a contributory pension. This means that during the entire course of their working lives they must have worked for ten years, or 520 weeks. Out of the entire course of a normal working life of perhaps 40 to 45 years, someone must have worked at least ten...

Other Questions: Pension Provisions (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The requirement to have 520 contributions affects many men and women. If we think about it, I do not believe a requirement to have made during the course of one's entire working life contributions for ten years is unreasonable. People, men and women, who worked for 40 years might have a difficulty with somebody who worked for only ten receiving the same pension as them.

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payment (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We will have to see what people do. The back to work family dividend ended in July for some people and we have not seen a significant increase in people going from FIS to jobseeker's transition. I believe it was ended in July for some people but maybe it was a reduction rather than people losing the payment altogether. The back to work family dividend becomes tapered down at different...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payment (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is not just the Deputy. This goes back to my theme that when any reform or change produces winners or losers, it is of course those people who lose out who will come to Deputies' offices - for all the obvious reasons - and not those who have benefitted or who are better off. That is inevitable when one makes any reform. We are working on the amendment for Report Stage of the Social...

Other Questions: Jobs Initiative (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: All JobBridge participants are entitled to a quality work experience and every reasonable effort is made to minimise the risk of exploitation of the scheme by host organisations. All complaints are taken seriously, fully investigated and appropriate action taken in any cases of non-compliance. In addition to responding to complaints, the Department operates a robust monitoring regime and...

Other Questions: Jobs Initiative (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I would not have any difficulty releasing the information other than the fact that the ruling of the Office of the Information Commissioner ties our hands in that regard. From April onwards, if there were any abuses that required publication then I would not have any difficulty doing that. I am sure, however, that the Deputy is not actually advising me, in this House, to disregard a ruling...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Only people who are long-term in receipt of a jobseeker's payment are referred to JobPath. Accordingly, someone who has been refused access to a jobseeker's payment by definition cannot be referred to JobPath. In order to qualify for a jobseeker's payment, a person must meet certain conditions, including that they are unemployed and are available for, capable of and genuinely seeking...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I might just take 30 seconds because I am about to give the Deputy the answer. I am sorry I did not give the answer in the first part. To date 60,000 jobseekers on the live register have engaged with JobPath. Of these, 499 are on a reduced rate, of whom only 96 are under 25 years of age. Again these figures are under 1% of the people engaged with JobPath. Given these relatively low levels...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I have not.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I thought the Deputy said the Dáil for a second.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Somebody who had previously been working and making contributions, in the first instance, should be entitled to jobseeker's benefit, which cannot be cut. That is a legal entitlement for six to nine months depending on the person's length of contributions. Only jobseeker's allowance can be reduced. The penalty rates are being used more frequently than they were in the past. That is not...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I reiterate what I said earlier. One of the conditions of jobseeker's allowance is to be actively seeking full-time employment. Other people, who go out to work and pay their taxes, expect those taxes to be used to support people who need that support and are genuinely seeking work. People who have particular difficulties can apply for other payments, including illness payments. On 17...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payment (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I discussed the reforms to the one parent-family payment with the select committee on Committee Stage of the Social Welfare Bill last week, as the Deputy mentioned. We are still at an early stage of the implementation of the reforms to the one-parent family payment. It will take several years before the full impact of the reforms can be assessed. This is because many lone parents, on...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Pension Provisions (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The figure of €290 million is the maximum amount estimated so that would be the case if we took existing pensioners and recalculated what they might be entitled to under a new set of rules. There would almost certainly be demands to do that. The rules could be changed prospectively but I think those who are already retired would want the rules changed for them as well. The Deputy is...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Pension Provisions (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: There is no compulsory retirement age in Ireland so there is no law saying that anyone has to retire at a particular age. However, for some people, their contracts with their employers require that they retire at 65. Many, though not all, of those people are public servants. The interdepartmental group has already produced its report, which was published some months ago before the summer...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Both the jobseeker's benefit and the jobseeker's allowance schemes provide significant support to individuals so that they can work up to three days a week and still retain access to a reduced jobseeker's payment. As of the end of September, there were approximately 59,000 jobseekers casually employed in this way. Any changes to the current criteria, such as moving to an hours-based...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We definitely have a problem here and it will take between now and possibly the next budget to figure out a solution. Employers contact me all the time saying that they have staff and would like staff to work more hours but staff will not work more hours because of the way the social welfare rules work and because they would lose their payments. At the same time, there are people earning...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: With respect, I think the Deputy is getting a few things mixed up. Many lone parents are not in receipt of social welfare payments. This is primarily a matter of family law and under family law, regardless of anything to do with social welfare, people have an obligation to provide for maintenance of their children. That is a civil matter between the two parents concerned. What the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (22 Nov 2016)

Leo Varadkar: If that is the case it was done mistakenly and we want to know.