Results 20,921-20,940 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the committee for the invitation to be here and I look forward to working constructively with it in the months and years ahead. With me from the Department are Mr. John Conlon, Mr. Denis Moynihan, Ms Roshin Sen and Mr. Tony Crean. As requested, my statement will be relatively short and will outline my priorities in the Department of Social Protection, particularly in a budgetary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am in the Chairman's hands. I would be very happy to respond after each intervention, but I know the time is limited.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Perhaps if the spokespeople contributed, I could come in then. Whatever the Chairman thinks is best.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know if paternity leave applies in the case of stillbirths. I will have to check it out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We will take a look at it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is on the website.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Chairman and other members of the committee for their questions, comments and suggestions. At the outset, some people asked me to give specific answers on what I am going to do in the budget. I am not being evasive, but I will not answer that question because I do not yet know how much of the fiscal space is coming our way. While I have had initial discussions with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: That is true, but we are now in a situation in which we have returned to net migration. Young people whose first language is not English and whose qualifications may be limited are coming into Ireland all the time and within a few weeks they find employment and are earning €300 or €400 a week. We need to bear all those points in mind. I accept that people may have individual...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We need to bear in mind that there are individuals who will have individual problems. Perhaps they should not be on jobseeker's allowance at all. Perhaps they have disability issues, mental health issues or need help with addiction. One cannot speak about everyone in a general way. However, we do need to ask a serious question. In an economy like this in which there is a lot of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I accept that it is a generalisation. Generalisations can be generally true. Those are things we have to look at.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy understands the point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is actually the case all over the world that youth unemployment rates are double the average-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: -----and that is a function of the fact that so many young people are in education. The labour force is therefore smaller. It is not that young people are twice as likely to be unemployed. It is important to understand statistics in these things. Touching on that note, somebody mentioned JobPath. JobPath refers people to Seetec and to Turas Nua. What we have there is something new....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, but-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: When one gets a jobseeker's allowance, the whole point of it is that it is conditional on one seeking work and taking a job if one can. It is not a job of one's choice. For some people, this is coming as a bit of a shock to them. Instead of just being offered a cycle of training and schemes, they are now being told that there is a job there for them. However, I believe it is something...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: We will do that. There will always be issues and problems arising. Some of the problems relate to communications and interactions between jobseekers and the people interviewing them. I would encourage Members and others to pass their complaints on to the Department, which will take them seriously. This is a big change. For the first time in a long time, if ever, the Government is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: With regard to the pension gender gap, we all know that women receive less in pensions than men. This is true not only in respect of the State pension but in relation to private pensions. There are contrary gaps too, including that women live longer than men, such that over the period of their retirement they may get more in cash terms than men. Generally speaking, women make fewer...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Yes. There is a debate about it. In terms of the widow's pension and survivor's pension, more women than men benefit from these pensions. The only way to fully resolve the issue is to have a separate set of rules for men and women. Some countries have different retirement ages for men and women but I would not agree with that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Carey mentioned family carers, which is an important area. There has been a delay in processing claims for the carer's allowance and carer's benefit. I am pleased to report that the situation has improved in the past four months. Medical assessments are now being done a lot quicker but the process is still a little slow. Deputy Brady mentioned the retention of the travel pass....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It could replace FIS. Work on the issue carried out by the previous Government produced four or five options, including replacing FIS, retaining it and closing it off to new entrants. It is fair to say that the reason this was not progressed is because there would have been losers as well as winners. The nature of politics is such that the winners will be happy and the losers will be the...