Results 4,561-4,580 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) Appeals (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am acutely aware of the valuable and dedicated service that Community Employment, CE, sponsor organisations provide in running CE Schemes all over the country. CE supervisors, as employees of these organisations, are an integral part of that good work. However, it is important to emphasise the fact that CE scheme supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 20 September 2018. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. These papers were...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff Data (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I have outlined below my Department’s record of staff attendances at conferences in the period 2017- 2019, supporting staff engaged in areas of key business importance including audit, communications, data protection, FOI, governance, health and safety, human resources, IT and digital services, pensions and procurement. Staff attendances at Conferences Year 2017 2018 2019 Cost...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: My Department has not incurred any expenditure on advertising or sponsorship in respect of conferences for the period 2017 to 2019. There is currently no specific allocation for this type of expenditure in 2019.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Data (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: No staff from my Department attended the event mentioned in your parliamentary question during the period in question, nor were any costs incurred by my Department in relation to advertising or sponsorship of the event during that period. The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council, the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Since late September 2018, my Department has been examining the social insurance records of approximately 90,000 pensioners, born on or after 1 September 1946, who have a reduced rate State pension contributory entitlement on post Budget 2012 rate bands. These payments are being reviewed under a new Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to pension calculation which includes provision for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: My Department provides two main options for payment methods for its customers: payments in cash at post offices or payments direct to customer accounts in financial institutions. The Department intends, where possible, to continue to offer its many customers the choice of being paid in cash at the post office, directly into their post office account or an account in a financial institution...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Waiting Times (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The information requested (where available) by the deputy is detailed in the following tabular statement. Social Welfare claims by average waiting times 31 January 2019 Scheme Average Waiting time (weeks) Jobseeker's Benefit 1 Jobseeker's Allowance 1 One-Parent Family Payment 5 State Pension Contributory 9 Widow’s, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Education Schemes (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: My Department does not administer these schemes. It would therefore be proper for the Deputy to raise this matter with my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. An increased payment can be made where full-time care is being provided to two people. The person concerned is in receipt...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by over 80 private transport operators. There are currently approx. 937,000...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 613 and 616 together. Customer surveys are carried out to assess customer satisfaction and perception of the quality of services offered by my Department. These surveys provide valuable insights into how customers interact with the Department’s processes and services and may also act as a benchmark against which future progress may be measured. With...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Parental Leave (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 614 and 615 together. In Budget 2019, I announced the introduction of a new social insurance based paid parental benefit scheme which will provide two weeks paid leave to both parents. This new scheme of parental benefit will support parents during the first year of the child's life and allows parents more flexibility in achieving and managing a work life...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Data (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Penalty rates were introduced as a means of encouraging jobseekers to engage with activation measures and co-operate with efforts of the Department to assist them in securing employment. The Department is committed, under Pathways to Work, to incentivise the take-up of activation opportunities, including implementing sanctions for failure to engage. The legislation underpinning the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Programme (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The JobPath contract does contain provisions for early termination, notwithstanding any dispute which may arise and which is covered elsewhere in the contract. Written notice must be served on the contractor 6 months in advance of a termination. The amount of compensation to be paid to the service providers is stipulated in the contract, however the amount of compensation, having been...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Data (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 619 and 620 together. The fuel allowance is a payment of €22.50 per week for 28 weeks (a total of €630 each year) from October to April, to over 372,000 low income households, at an estimated cost of €227 million in 2018. The purpose of this payment is to assist these households with their energy costs. The allowance represents a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Bereavement Grant (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: During the economic downturn, my Department focused on protecting primary social welfare rates. In recent years, as the economy has been recovering, the Government has concentrated resources in improving the core rates of payments, particularly for pensioners, resulting in considerable increases in these rates. The Bereavement Grant was a payment of €850 made where the deceased...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that statistics are not maintained on a local authority or on a county by county basis, and it is not in a position to supply the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown local authority area. The average appeal processing times for each month in 2018 and January 2019 for disability allowance, illness...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Data (26 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that statistics are not maintained on a local authority or on a county by county basis, and it is not in a position to supply the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown local authority area. The outcome of all appeals by scheme for the years 2016 to 2018 and for January 2019 are available at the...