Results 21-40 of 1,023,777 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne) in 'Committee meetings'

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Bernard Durkan: This question relates to an old bugbear of mine with the number of people who fall short of the necessary contributions due to a variety of circumstances, such as women who are spouses of self-employed people, where the Department does not always allow a partnership to exist in determining the eligibility for an insurance-based pension, and where people have a shortage of contributions in any...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: My Department makes several payments to people over the age of 66.  One of these is the State pension contributory, which has a number of qualifying criteria, including having a minimum of 520 paid social insurance contributions.  Where a person meets the qualifying criteria, the rate of payment is calculated based on the number of contributions paid and credited. As the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Bernard Durkan: It does not actually. In a short sojourn in that Department, I made an attempt a number of times to change the situation whereby people had an entitlement because they had an average of more than 21 contributions in a year and qualified for a pension, and people with fewer than 21 contributions qualified for no pension. I contended that it was unconstitutional despite the fact that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: To be fair, we have made changes. We have the long-term carer's contribution scheme. That will make it easier for long-term carers of an incapacitated person or people to qualify for the State pension. If someone has been caring for somebody for 20 years or more, the credits will be allowed towards their pension. I think that is an improvement. There are the family caring periods. There...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Bernard Durkan: I agree that the Minister has made many important improvements, but there is always room for more, particularly in cases where there is an obvious want or deficiency in the system that does not meet a particular situation. Might the Minister look at the possible costs of having a pro rata pension made available to all persons based on their level of contributions and without reference to the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: If you go below the 520 contributions, the actual pension you would get would be in the region of just over €30. That is how it works. There is always room for improvement. There is no doubt about that. I agree with Deputy Durkan on that. I have brought in many improvements to the pension system. I have kept the pension age at 66 and allowed the flexibility for people to work to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I would be willing to allow a bit of flexibility if the Minister was okay with it and wanted to give a timeline on Question No. 16.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Here is the Minister of State. Saved by the bell.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions (11 Jun 2024)

Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate (11 Jun 2024)

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Care Services (11 Jun 2024)

Care Services

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Care Services (11 Jun 2024)

Robert Troy: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter this evening. I start by acknowledging the role that family carers play, firstly in society, in keeping people in their own home, where the vast majority want to be kept, and secondly in the economy, to which they contribute €20 billion per annum. The State of Caring 2024 report was based on a survey of 2,127...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Murphy: Will the Minister comment on the situation of post-primary schools? The same arguments apply in respect of secondary students, including the points about pupil well-being in school, engagement with food, prevention of hunger, alertness in education and so on. We have the capacity to address the inequalities that exist and are reflected in our schools. We should do so at post-primary as...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Meals Programme (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: Currently, DEIS secondary schools have access to the school meals programme. I wanted to start with primary schools. As soon as that roll-out is finished, I hope the Minister for Social Protection in the next Government, whoever that may be, will start to roll out the provision to all secondary schools as well. It is the right thing to do. I have been absolutely committed to the school...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Disability Services

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Catherine Connolly: 12. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 18 of 25 April 2024, her plans to reconsider the introduction of a cost-of-disability payment; the details of her or her Department's engagement with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on this matter since the scrapping of the Green Paper; and if she...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Catherine Connolly: My question is very specific. It relates to the Minister's plans to reconsider the introduction of a cost-of-disability payment and the details of any engagement her Department has had with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on this matter.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am committed to improving outcomes for people with a disability. I announced a number of measures to support them in budget 2024, including a €400 lump-sum payment in November, a Christmas bonus double payment in December, a cost-of-living bonus payment in January and a €12 increase in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I welcome that there is a major emphasis on disability, the establishment of the Cabinet committee and so on. I ask the Minister to forgive my frustration, which arises because the Indecon report was only one in a long series of reports over decades. I have an interest in looking at reports and tracing how we got to the current point. We have had a number of reports over decades. Twenty...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (11 Jun 2024)

Heather Humphreys: As the Deputy knows, the cost of disability crosses the remit of a number of Departments, encompassing transport, housing adaptation grants and access to services, including healthcare. Income supports are only part of the solution. The disability groups were not happy with the Green Paper. We have to go back to the drawing board, which we are doing by way of the Cabinet committee. We...