Results 2,461-2,480 of 5,587 for speaker:Kevin Humphreys

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The contributions have been very eloquent. I commend Senator Norris because he can make his point with good humour. It is always lively. I do not propose to accept these amendments. Providing a new birth certificate is a significant and serious step. The purpose of this legislation is to recognise and validate people in their new gender. I accept that for most people, transitioning to...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I do not propose to accept this amendment. Throughout the preparation of this legislation, where a court process was deemed necessary, it was always considered appropriate for the court to be the Circuit Court sitting as the family court. The nature of the family court is appropriate to the confidential nature of the matter being considered. With regard to the hearing of appeals from...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I am.

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I advise Senator Norris that I have never been led by public opinion. I have always been out of kilter with public opinion, going back to the Eight Amendment of the Constitution and right through my political career.

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Perhaps if I had a been more in tune with public opinion, I may have elected to the House at a much earlier stage. Several Senators made the point about listening and reviewing. I would not come into this House if I was not prepared to listen and take into consideration what is being said, but I have a sense of honesty within my myself that I should give a clear indication of where my...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank Members for their contributions. I can feel the passion and how strongly Senator van Turnhout feels. Senator Norris indicated at the outset on the first amendment how quickly the situation is changing, and how different the legislation would be if we were doing it ten years ago or even nine months ago. By constantly redrafting the legislation on each Stage we can examine the...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank the Senators for their contributions on this. I also thank the Senators who met and engaged with me privately. It was very constructive. While this is the formal setting, much hard work and discussion has been done elsewhere by many Senators on this legislation. With no disrespect to the Senators who made points regarding later amendments, I will not address those points but the...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: When I get praise, I sometimes wonder how long it will last.

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: This is ground-breaking legislation on which we have worked hard. It has been a priority for the Tánaiste to ensure that the legislation would be brought to the Houses and given effect this year. It is important that we work in co-operation when dealing with legislation that is extremely complex and new. The amendment is practical and reasonable, and I am delighted to be able to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Given the scale of unemployment levels, the key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments. Accordingly the employment services and schemes provided by the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions 184 and 191 together. Details of library and archiving related JobBridge positions in Public Bodies are set out in Table 1. There are no circumstances in which a jobseeker may commence a JobBridge internship prior to accumulating the 3 months (78 days) out of the previous 6 months in receipt of an eligible payment or signing for credits. However, those 3 months...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Programmes (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The following table shows the current placement figures as of the specified dates: Programme/Scheme Current Participants Effective Date (most recent available) JobBridge 6,220 participants 29/01/2015 Community Employment 24,089 participants and supervisors 02/02/2015 Rural Social Scheme 2,572 Participants 29/01/2015 Tús 7,865 Participants 29/01/2015 Gateway 1,781 Participants...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: A person aged over 55 years and who commenced a community employment (CE) scheme in April 2013 (having no previous CE participation since April 2000) and having spent 156 continuous weeks in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment can spend a maximum of six years of participation on a CE scheme, subject to the availability of a place and budgetary constraints.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 211 to 213, inclusive, and 219 together. The rent supplement scheme provides support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are approximately 71,500 rent supplement recipients for which the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The eligibility criteria for community employment (CE) is published on the Department’s website – . There is no requirement to “have a job secured” prior to commencing a CE placement, indeed if the applicant had a job secured this would prohibit them from participating on CE as the criteria for entry for the majority of clients is to be unemployed for a minimum of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Places (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The Department hopes to commence rolling out a new Health and Social Care Programme for CE participants during the course of this year. The programme will ensure that participants have adequate access to qualifications in the health and social care sector in order to take up employment opportunities in this area and to support local service delivery. The Department has been consulting with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (3 Feb 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: Following the transfer of the Community Welfare Service (CWS) from the Health Service Executive to the Department in 2011, the Department has re-engineered its business model to support the provision of integrated services across all business streams involved in the delivery of localised services. As part of this strategy, the Department is engaged in the delivery of integrated Intreo...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (28 Jan 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I thank the Senators for their contributions, and also thank Dr. Foy. One thing that always hits me on first listening to people's real-life experiences in this area is how it has affected many of the citizens in our country. Too often, we try to put people into different boxes, but this has to be addressed. It is very much to our shame that it has taken so long - 21 years - for...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (28 Jan 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: The application process for gender recognition certificates will have to be accompanied by a supporting statement from a medical professional who has experience of working with transgender people. However, it is crucial to recognise that the application process will not require any detail of care including the person's medical history or confirmation of a diagnosis. People will not have to...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Social Welfare Benefits (28 Jan 2015)

Kevin Humphreys: I apologise to the client for the administration error that meant the social welfare officer did not arrive on the stated day. It can be frustrating for people in those circumstances, especially when the client’s husband had taken the day off to be there with his wife. I will explain in detail the background to the survey. The Department of Social Protection processes in excess of...