Results 2,921-2,940 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: Did the Deputy just say "grey panthers"?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The proposal Deputy Brady made last year was fairly well received by everybody affected by this. It forms the basis of a good start. When I look at international best practice, the UK comes in fifth place. I am surprised by that given that its legal set-up is so similar to our own. We are looking at Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Finland, all of whose agencies achieve very good outcomes....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I believe we are on the same page so I will not split hairs. What the Deputy has just put on the record of the House, however, is not a true reflection of our decision on liable relatives. In the vast majority of those 18,000 cases the people pay maintenance directly. They do not come through us, so it is not a fair reflection of the work of the people in that unit that only 2,400 or...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy will be aware, community employment, CE, schemes deliver on a number of our objectives. They provide a means for people to gain valuable work experience as a stepping stone to full-time employment, they deliver valuable services in our communities, towns and villages, and they help people who are genuinely long-term unemployed, are far removed from the workforce, and who have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The date for the final meeting will be set in the next day or two. I know that I said "shortly" in July, but this "shortly" is different. I expect the last meeting of the interdepartmental group to be held in the coming weeks, if not earlier. It is at that meeting that decisions will be made on the recommendations, so I cannot tell the Deputy now what will be decided. It will be decided...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am sorry if I misheard. Is the Deputy asking about the ramifications of a hard Brexit?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: CE schemes are established to help people who are unemployed for the long term. Anybody unfortunate to lose his or her job as a result of a hard Brexit, which we all hope does not occur, will not be unemployed for the long term if our plans for the next year can move him or her into one of the new jobs being created. I am mindful that CE schemes exist to do a particular job. I am not sure...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: Are we taking Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Schemes (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together. The Government has committed to making the needs of families, and achieving better outcomes for them, a priority, especially those under the aegis of our Department who are most at risk of poverty. Over the past three budgets, the maximum rates of all weekly payments have increased by €15. Last year, I increased the payments to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I would love to tell the Deputy that I had the pleasure of reading the report on several occasions. However, I am not sure I would describe it as a pleasure. I have, however, read it several times. The Deputy is right that it is a comprehensive document which runs to some 170 pages, plus an annex. It is significantly different by some 40 pages and four findings from the draft report we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The response is in the written reply I would have read if I had been allowed to do so.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I did not mean by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: This is a comprehensive issue.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: In October 2017 the Data Protection Commission commenced an investigation into the standard authentication framework environment, SAFE, and public services card process. It delivered its final report to the Department on 15 August 2019. On 17 September the Department published the report, together with a summary of its own response to the findings made in the report. As I stated earlier...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Family Law Acts place a legal obligation on parents to maintain their children. In cases where the family unit has broken down, these obligations continue to apply. Relevant maintenance payments can be arranged either directly between the parties themselves, or with the assistance of support from the Department of Justice and Equality such as the Family Mediation Service and the Legal...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: The public services card, PSC, was provided for in legislation in 1998 when it was introduced alongside the personal public service number, PPSN to replace the previous revenue and social insurance, RSI, number and the social service card, SSC. The clear and stated objective, as articulated in Oireachtas at that time, was that the public services card was not to be confined to welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: There are almost 425,000 State pension contributory and 95,000 State pension non-contributory recipients. It is not possible to accurately categorise pension recipients into either single persons living alone or couples. Both state pension (contributory) and (non-contributory) recipients may claim an increase for qualified adult where their spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is being...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Reports (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: As part of Budget 2019, I announced my intention to commission research into the cost of disability. This is the first step in reaching an in-depth understanding of this complex issue. I hope that this research, when complete, will inform policy direction in relation to the provision of adequate supports to meet the needs of people with disabilities from a whole-of-Government perspective....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 19 together. The Public Services Card (PSC) was provided for in legislation in 1998 when it was introduced alongside the PPSN to replace the previous Revenue and Social Insurance number (RSI) and the Social Service Card (SSC). The clear and stated objective as articulated in Oireachtas at that time was that the Public Services Card was not to be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Review (25 Sep 2019)

Regina Doherty: Carer's Allowance is a means-tested payment for carers who look after people in need of care and attention on a full time basis. It acts as an income support for those who cannot work due to their caring responsibilities. The means test is one of the most generous in the social welfare system, especially in respect of spouse’s income. The income disregard is €332.50 per week...