Results 4,801-4,820 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions Reform (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: It is well known that people are living for much longer. As a result of this demographic change, the number of State pension recipients is increasing year on year.  This has significant implications for the future costs of State pension provision which are currently increasing by approximately €1 billion every 5 years.  In the coming decades, the ratio of workers to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Applications (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Carer's benefit (CARB) is a payment made to insured people who leave the workforce to care for a child or an adult in need of full-time care and attention. An increased payment can be made where full-time care is being provided to two people. An application for CARB was received from the person concerned on 23 October 2018. The evidence submitted in support of this application was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Working Family Payment Applications (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Working Family Payment (WFP) is an in-work payment which provides additional income support to employees on low earnings with children. In order to qualify for WFP, the applicant or the applicant and their spouse, partner or cohabitant must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee for not less than 38 hours per fortnight. This condition must be satisfied on an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff Retirements (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: My Department, like all Government departments and agencies is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget, which for this Department has involved reductions in staff. The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to respond to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection provides a range of activation supports catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market to secure and sustain full-time paid employment. These supports include the JobPath service, Tús and Community Employment (CE).  The Tús initiative is a community work placement scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: My Department provides a range of activation supports catering for long-term unemployed jobseekers and those most distant from the labour market to secure and sustain full-time paid employment. These supports include the Community Employment (CE), Tús, JobPath and Local Employment Schemes (LES).  The aim of CE is to enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 633 and 634 together. The Government's Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018 -2023 launched in February 2018 detailed specific measures that will modernise our pension system.  It includes plans for reform and simplification of occupational and private pensions.  Transposition of the Directive is a key part of the Government’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Supervisors on CE schemes are employees of companies that receive public funding in the community and voluntary sector.  They are not employees of my Department or public servants. CE companies contract with my Department to provide suitable work and training opportunities for participants.  A CE scheme may be considered no longer viable when the sponsor...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Rent supplement continues its vital role in housing families and individuals for which the Government has provided  €132.4 million for 2019. Rent supplement recipients at year end and expenditure for 2018 is provided in the following tabular statement.  The strategic goal of returning rent supplement to its original purpose, that of a short-term income support, has been...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Applications (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Illness Benefit claim from the person concerned was interrupted on the 6th February 2019 pending confirmation of his employment status. An officer from the Department has since contacted the person concerned and payment was resumed from the 14th February.  The arrears of payment due to him will issue shortly. Medical certificates of incapacity should continue to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (19 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. A person can be considered to be providing full-time care and attention where they are engaged in employment,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: My Department has a project governance committee which oversees all projects. This is a sub-committee of the management board and is chaired by the Secretary General. The Department has a strong governance structure and each project reports into a programme board which is normally chaired by a programme sponsor at Assistant Secretary level. The programme board in turn...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The information requested by the Deputy (where available) is in the following tabular statements. The first table details both the number of claims pending at the end of the month and the number of appeals on hand for those schemes. The second table details the number of appeals on hand for additional schemes where, as a result of IT system limitations, the number of pending...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The following table provides details of the outcome of all appeals by scheme for 2018. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.  18,507 appeals were finalised in 2018. Appeals which...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 642 and 643 together. In January 2018, I announced the Government Decision to introduce a new interim Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to the calculation of State Pension (Contributory) for pensioners born on or after 1 September 1946, who were awarded state pension (contributory) under the post Budget 2012 rate bands.  This approach,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income.  An urgent needs payment (UNP) may be made to persons who may not normally qualify for SWA but who have an urgent need which they...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Data (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: The information requested by the Deputy is detailed in the following tabular statement. Recipient numbers for schemes for the period 2002-2018 inclusive have also been published online in excel format at welfare.ie. Tabular statement Year State Pension Non Contributory State Pension Contributory 2014 95,570 346,420 2015 95,179 361,725 2016 95,221 377,062 2017 95,140 394,378 2018...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Widow's Pension Eligibility (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 646 and 647 together. To qualify for a widow(er)’s or surviving civil partner’s (contributory) pension, the surviving spouse must be deemed, under Irish State Law, to be the legal widow(er) of the deceased. The legislative provisions pertaining to the recognition of foreign divorces outside the State are set out in Section 5 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (19 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 649 and 650 together. My Department is committed to ensuring that the principles of due process and natural justice are followed in all claim investigations and decisions.  This applies equally to decisions at initial claim stage and when claims are subsequently reviewed.The Department’s guidelines on Decision Making and Natural Justice are...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Regina Doherty: There are two separate matters here. First, in response to Deputy Michael Moynihan, nobody would stand over the letter that was issued - I will not say it was in error but it was without consideration or thought - last week-----