Results 4,681-4,700 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Belittling me or making me look funny or silly-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am telling the Deputy that it is not funny. It is tantamount to bullying and I will not accept it or tolerate it from Deputy Mattie McGrath any more. If he has a question to ask, if he asks it respectfully, I will respectfully reply to it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Deputy O'Dea asked me about Turas Nua and Working Links. I do not say this blindly or unknowingly. Our contract is with Turas Nua. It will do whatever it does in the next couple of weeks but it has been in constant contact with us in the last number of weeks. We are aware of the ongoing issues with Working Links and we will continue to work with Turas Nua to provide the service which it...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Rates (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I agree with Deputy Broughan when he says that the Taoiseach started this. He is a hard act to follow. Every time I think I have come up with a new idea, I am told that he said that in 2015.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Rates (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 91 together. A Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023, published last year, commits the Government to examine and develop proposals to set a formal benchmark target of 34% of earnings for the State pension (contributory) and to institute a process whereby future changes in pension rates of payment are explicitly linked to changes in consumer...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I do not know. What I do know is that we do not make anybody undergo the SAFE 2 authentification process. With the exception of one lady, for whom the issue was resolved soon after I came into the Department, we have never withheld a payment due to somebody not having gone through the SAFE 2 authentification process. That is not the purpose of it. It is not a control measure in the way...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Government's position on the recent motion debated in the House on the JobPath service was clearly set out in my contribution at the time. While I noted the views of the House on the matter, the position of the Government remains unchanged. I reiterate that the JobPath service shows a performance well above target levels.  Customer feedback shows high levels of satisfaction...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: It will not come as news to Deputies that Private Members' motions are not legally binding instructions to the Government-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Private Members' motions are not legally binding instructions to the Government but the set of contracts in place with Turas Nua and Seetec through JobPath are. If there were to be any changes to the existing contracts, it would cost the State millions of euros. As I previously stated in the House, the termination of the contracts or even a stepping-away from the contracts would...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Our contract for services is with Turas Nua and it will continue to be, exactly as laid out in the contract we signed a number of years ago.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Illness Benefit Payments (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I hope what I am saying to the Deputy is not new because we have had people come to us about this issue, particularly the bank charges imposed on them, and we have looked after them. A community welfare officer, CWO, is available in various places in every county. If there are people who have been put out financially because of charges imposed on them through no fault of their own, I ask...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Illness Benefit Payments (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I would hate to think anyone would have to fight for anything in the Department, given that the only reason we are there is to help people who need income support. I do not know all of the case officers in CWO offices, but they are incredibly nice and there to help people at the times they need it. As that is their job, the Deputy should just tell people to go to them.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am going to tell the Deputy how to suck eggs-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: -----when I tell him that the purpose of the SAFE 2 registration process is to verify someone's identity to a substantial level of assurance. This is a necessary step when we are responsibly providing access to the billions of euro, of which the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is in charge and which it is giving to people through all of its schemes. The public...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: To answer the Deputy's two questions, we received the report from the Data Protection Commissioner in August. We provided a comprehensive response for the office on 30 November and have been awaiting its response since. As I said to the Deputy, publication of the report is now entirely a matter for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, given that it has given us clear instructions...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: No.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: No.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I know how passionately the Deputy feels about this as he has been talking about CE for many years. However, I remind him, and he was probably a Member of the House when it was established, that CE was established as a working age activation scheme. The people who are on a scheme must be of working age. I do not know the date of birth of the person the Deputy mentioned, and I am happy to...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: To be honest, I do not know the answer to that question. We are actively pursuing every and any way of trying to resolve this issue without causing the contagion we know it would cause at present. To be entirely fair to the two unions that are representing the CE supervisors and assistant supervisors, they have come up with different ideas in the last few months that are just not manageable...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Review (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I will not give the reply I have given already as it is on the record of the House. I do not believe the governing rules for the two separate strands of CE are viable. They are not fair to the people who are in the socially inclusive places. I could not get them changed as matters stand, and I had to employ the assistance of my colleagues in different Departments, who perhaps have more...