Results 421-440 of 2,335 for speaker:Joe O'Brien
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I do not have this.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I am sorry.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: This Government acknowledges the important role that carers play and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, the current State contributory pension system provides measures including PRSI credits, home-making disregards and the home caring periods to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid employment in the calculation of a payment rate. Last...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: The short answer to the Deputy's first question is that I understand that is the case. I will read out some detail on that with regard to the evidence that people can provide to prove those 20 years. If a customer was in receipt of carer's allowance, carer's benefit, the carer's support grant or the domiciliary care allowance, he or she will have met the qualifying conditions for the...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: The last impression I want to give is that we are brushing this disease under the carpet. Long Covid is very real. I know a number of people who still have it. There has been a significant response to the reality of long Covid from the Department of Health with the opening of a number of clinics and the expansion of clinics across the country to help people deal with it and to find...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I again acknowledge the important role RSS and Tús supervisors play in supporting the delivery of key services to local communities across the country and in providing valuable opportunities to participants. I assure the Deputy that my Department is very conscious of the vital role of supervisors within these work programmes. While RSS and Tús supervisors are employees of the...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I am loathe to get into figures, numbers and the details of negotiations. It would not be helpful to anyone. We are talking. We recognise there is an issue. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I have proven in the past couple of years that CE, Tús and RSS supervisors have legitimate arguments to make on pay rates and the gratuity issue, which has been resolved. I do not want to be...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I know there was a meeting scheduled with officials for last month. There was a genuine reason that did not happen. There was no policy decision not to meet them or to wait and hold off. That was not the case. I think and hope, but do not want to guarantee here on the floor, that the meeting will be rescheduled for some time before Christmas. It depends on people’s availability....
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: In addition to income supports, my Department provides a wide range of employment supports and services designed to assist lone parents to enter or return to employment. Both the one-parent family payment and the jobseeker’s transitional payment have been designed to support persons to pursue their individual employment goals. These schemes include an earnings disregard whereby the...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: The Deputy is right that the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform has a key role in this. The Deputy provided some detail. I am not sure some of it is correct in terms of what has been agreed. There is a willingness on our side to discuss the issue. I do not want to get into negotiations on the floor of the House on what is doable or not. We had...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I have done specific work to ensure community employment supervisors got their pension and gratuity over the last couple of years and, in particular, on the 5% across-the-board pay increases for CE, Tús and RSS supervisors. We now have this additional ask. While it is not without merit, we have to look at it carefully. We are amenable to discussing and talking. The Deputy asked a...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: The Government acted early and without hesitation to support all workers who contracted Covid-19 during the pandemic. Workers could avail of an enhanced illness benefit payment and eligibility criteria were set to include the largest cohort of workers possible, including the self-employed. The scheme paid some 578,000 claims at a cost of over €350 million. A temporary scheme of...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I cannot comment on the Department of Health scheme that covers healthcare workers, as I do not know the ins and outs of it. However, we all agree that healthcare workers faced specific dangers and vulnerabilities that were different from those faced by many other workers who, we suspect, contracted Covid mainly through community transmission. Covid, as the World Health Organization has...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, recently secured the approval of the Government to proceed with design proposals for a new pay-related benefit for jobseekers. This represents a fundamental reform of the social welfare system and will ensure that people with long work histories will receive enhanced benefits if they lose their employment. The pay-related benefit will be available to newly...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I disagree with the Deputy's assertion. I will make two key points regarding the caps and the new benefits. Earnings are subject to a maximum of €450 for the first three months, the rate will reduce to 55%, subject to a maximum of €375, for the following three months, and a further three months will be paid at a rate of 50% to a maximum of €300. Those caps will ensure...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: That characterisation is inaccurate in terms of the expectation that people will be on €125 a week. The bottom level is €300. There are other aspects to the system as well. The logic of this is to follow European norms where we can avoid a cliff edge as regards the drop in income people face, if they are unlucky enough to lose their jobs. A recent classic example of that is...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: I will take Deputy Ó Laoghaire's question first, but I will address the other matter. My Department operates a number of employment support schemes, including community employment, CE, Tús and the rural social scheme for long-term unemployed persons and low-income farmers. At the outset, I acknowledge the important role that Tús and RSS supervisors play in providing...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: The wage subsidy scheme is an employment support to private sector employers, the objective of which is to encourage employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. There are currently 1,515 employers on the scheme in respect of some 2,436 participant employees. Estimated expenditure on the wage subsidy scheme in 2023 is €24 million. To claim a subsidy under the...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: We had a four-week consultation process in June with people with disabilities, employers and the public and received over 1,000 submissions. As part of the budget we allocated an additional €3.7 million to expand the scheme. This will reduce the minimum number of hours required. The increase in the previous budget was a significant one and we are now in a situation where employers...
- Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)
Joe O'Brien: It is important that we look at all barriers that people with disabilities face in trying to access employment. The wage subsidy scheme is an important assistance to employers and employees to get through some of those barriers. The Department recognises the additional challenges that some people with disabilities may experience in securing and maintaining employment and contracts a...