Results 3,241-3,260 of 12,585 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: As somebody whose party has quite a number of councillors, I certainly will not oppose the amendment. Unlike other members of the committee, I do not have extensive experience of working as a councillor. My experience is confined to a brief inglorious period on Limerick Corporation, which, quite frankly, I do not miss. My understanding is that the K stamp is being converted into an S stamp...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: The Minister will be aware of the rates of poverty among lone parents. The deprivation rate is touching on 60%, which is alarming. The Minister will also be aware that an independent report commissioned by his Department and written by Drs. Crosse and Millar was particularly scathing about the changes made to the current system which the previous Minister stated should not be introduced in...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: The Minister mentioned the number of reports the Department is doing, including one on jobseeker's transition, JST. Is JST exclusive to lone parents? Perhaps the report could cover a number of the issues we are discussing. The Minister said the best way out of poverty was to get a job. The difficulty is that the changes brought about have made it less attractive for many lone parents to...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: I must confess I am a little confused because the Minister seemed to say at the start of his contribution that the report on the jobseeker's transitional payment, which is exclusive to lone parents, would cover the issues we are looking to be covered. He went on to say that he will undertake to commission a separate report along the lines suggested in the amendment. If the report on the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: The Minister asks what the point is in having many different reports. The point in seeking these reports is that the Committee on Social Protection reviews policy on an ongoing basis. It is there to help the Minister, not to thwart him and trip him up. It is there to help him to get the best possible value for the huge amount of money this State spends, rightly, on social protection. We...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: For clarification, Deputy Collins referred to a communication from FLAC. I did not receive it, or if I did, I do not recall. If I understand the Minister, he is saying that this procedure happens regularly anyway under various schemes, including this one, and that he is introducing legislation to underpin that. There seems to be a discrepancy between the explanatory memorandum and the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: Would I be right in saying there are two reports, one on poverty and one on the back-to-work family dividend?

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: In so far as this change was made to encourage lone parents to go back to work, I agree it does not appear to be working. Is the Minister doing something specific on this? Will the general report he is doing on lone parents encompass and deal with the matters surrounding this and the difficulties therein?

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: Did I understand the Minister to say the Department is already carrying out a study on this? When does the Minister expect that study to be completed? Will it be referred to the committee for discussion? Where does that leave the family income supplement? Is it intended that this particular back to work dividend will exist side by side with the family income supplement or is the reformed...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: This is a long and complex amendment. I understand the regulations of 2016 are replacing the regulations of 2005. Is the Minister satisfied that the changes being made do not in any way diminish the right of the people concerned to claim social welfare payments? Section 246 of the Act, to which the Minister refers, makes it a condition of receiving social welfare payments that a person...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 32:In page 12, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “23. (1) The Minister shall review the impact of the increase in the national minimum wage on the income thresholds set for social welfare payments and shall bring forward a report to the Committee on Social Protection on same within 3 months of this Bill being enacted.(2) The Minister shall review the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: On the jobseeker's transitional payment, the three-day rule is a disincentive to people to take up employment. A person can earn X amount over three days and get social welfare benefit for the remainder of the week. A person who earns exactly the same amount but does so over four or five days is not entitled to any social welfare payment. That is an anomaly. It constitutes a disincentive...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: I will withdraw my amendment for the moment. We will both give it further consideration between now and Report Stage.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: I do not understand it. Where is the double compensation? As far as I can see, what is being proposed is that if people are unfairly dismissed they go to the tribunal and get appropriate compensation, but while they are waiting to get that compensation they will not have a job and they will get paid social welfare. The amendment requires the employers who unfairly dismissed them to repay...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Availability (17 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: 222. To ask the Minister for Health when a decision will be made regarding the drug Kalydeco and its availability for children aged two to five years of age with cystic fibrosis (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35648/16]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Environmental Policy (16 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: 135. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to ban or highlight the effects of microbeads used in personal care products and biomedical research; the effects they are having on health and marine life; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35274/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Waiting Times (16 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: 156. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average waiting times for receipt of social protection payments in 2016 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35342/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (16 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: 157. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of rent supplement recipients by county; the number of persons who have had their rent supplement increased above the prescribed limit for their area in 2016 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35343/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Review (16 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: 158. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the schemes which are currently under review by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35345/16]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance (15 Nov 2016)

Willie O'Dea: 382. To ask the Minister for Social Protection when arrears will issue to a person (details supplied) who is in receipt of a disability allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34569/16]