Results 3,801-3,820 of 12,701 for speaker:Willie O'Dea
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 15:In page 16, after line 35, to insert the following:“26. The Pensions Act 1990 is amended by inserting a new section 48A as follows:“48A.A solvent firm shall not be allowed to close a defined benefit pension scheme except where the scheme has reached a minimum 90 per cent funding standard.’’.”. We had a discussion on this issue...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: My amendments Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, require the Government to undertake a review of different cuts in different areas of social welfare provision within four months of the passage of the Bill. The Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, noted this morning that all the information is already available which, of course, I already know. What I am suggesting is that the information be...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: That is not true.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: Not true. I will give the Tánaiste a copy of our proposals.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: What about free travel?
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: We did.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: The Tánaiste is misleading the House. We proposed a €7 million improvement in the provision for free travel, and I can supply her with the appropriate documentation to that effect. It is not just about reviewing treatment benefits and so on. A number of schemes are referred to specifically in these amendments, but there are other cuts to consider. Working lone parents, for...
- Order of Business (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: Yesterday, the Tánaiste informed me during Question Time that it was the Government's intention to introduce legislation to deal with the issue of determination orders. These are orders made against an absent partner in respect of moneys paid by the State to lone parents where the State can recoup some of that money if the person in question is in a position to pay or contribute. When...
- Order of Business (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: It is probably delayed in the Christmas post. The Taoiseach has not yet got back to me. In the section on housing in the programme for Government, the Government promised to introduce a probationary period for new tenants in social housing. If they engaged in antisocial behaviour during this period of 12 months, their tenancy was to be automatically terminated. Will the Taoiseach...
- Leaders' Questions (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: Is that so?
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: I did not say that.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: It was tongue in cheek.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: No. 1. I will give it my No. 2.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 9:In page 15, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following:"21. The Minister shall, within 4 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas, reviewing all expenditure reductions or the ceasing of payments in relation to the household benefits package, including the gas allowance, electricity allowance, telephone...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: I would not be in favour of the amendment, as drafted. The Minister of State can correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I can recollect, the cost of child benefit this year is in excess of €2 billion. There are questions around how we should proceed in the future and whether some of the current allocation should go towards direct child care provision, but, obviously, that is an...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: I also support Deputy Naughten's amendment, which is a very reasonable proposal. The Deputy is not asking the Government to introduce discretion on the 15 hours, he is only asking it to produce a report to examine the implications. I strongly suspect that the report would find that there is a very small coterie of cases involving real hardship on the margins. The Deputy's amendment puts...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: Can I ask a question on that? The amendment in my name is ruled out of order because it is deemed to create a charge on the Exchequer. However, yesterday, during Question Time, the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection informed me that this was the law already and that people who reach the age of 65 do not have to prove that they are actively seeking work to get their jobseeker's...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: The Acting Chairman is his representative.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report Stage (18 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: The Minister of State might like to venture an explanation.
- Other Questions: Social Welfare Code Review (17 Nov 2015)
Willie O'Dea: I understand what the Minister is saying. Maintenance has always been a matter primarily for the parents and the courts. Up to now an absent parent of a child aged up to 14 years could be pursued by the State to contribute to the welfare the State is paying to the parent who is living with the child. Currently, an absent parent can only be pursued until the child has reached aged seven. I...