Results 5,201-5,220 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Commencement of Legislation (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy does not need to read me his letters because I get them myself, although it is valuable to read them into the record of the House to demonstrate to people the frustration being experienced. I might not get them every day but certainly I receive them every second day from families who just want to have their legal status recognised. I appreciate their frustration. I am not sure...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I will. I do not know where Deputy Smith is getting her figures from. Only 1% of our applications are appealed. By any standard, that is not a huge amount. The Deputy claims that huge amounts of people are refused carers. The only people who are refused carers are those who do not reach the qualifications on the carer's application form. We do not willy-nilly say we will refuse people...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: -----to provide the information that will give a satisfactory outcome for whatever scheme they are on.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Sorry, Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I know it is not in the question-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: -----but the Deputy raised JobPath. The only people who are charged a penalty relating to JobPath are those who do not show up and engage with the programme that they have signed up for. In exactly the same way, anybody who engages with the live register through our Intreo offices who does not show up and present himself or herself as being available for work does not qualify for this...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: -----and available freely for work full-time to satisfy the criteria.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is all about perspective. Somebody has only failed when he or she has stopped or given up. The Department will never stop or give up looking after the people who are most in need. To put it in context, there are currently 78,681 people who applied for carer's benefit last year. Fewer than 1,000 were refused on appeal. That is a tiny number by anybody's standards. There is a marked...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: -----which is why we will keep working to improve the service, not only the applications but the appeals process.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Payments (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Department transferred administration of the illness benefit scheme to our new core business objects IT platform in August 2018. Although the system worked effectively for over 80% of illness benefit customers, significant difficulties arose following implementation for a large number of recipients. My Department took three main steps to resolve the issues impacting on payments. It...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputy for his question as it gives me a welcome opportunity to put the status of this service on the record of the House. The dedicated mortgage arrears advice service which operates across the MABS network was established in 2015 as part of the Government's response to providing supports to hundreds of thousands of mortgage holders who were in arrears at that time. The service...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is correct in saying that the current contract runs out on 15 February. However, the service is well aware that I am bringing a report on Abhaile to Cabinet in the first or second week in January with a request to extend the service. A memorandum will be brought to Government seeking an extension of the service to the end of 2019. I am particularly proud of the staff of Abhaile...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: That is not possible because the last Cabinet meeting before Christmas took place yesterday. The information that Deputy O'Dea brings to the House is news to me and I can guarantee that it is also news to the regional boards of MABS. We are certainly not refusing new clients or putting anyone's job or contract with Abhaile at risk. The service is fully aware that it has a full budget for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for her question. My Department is committed to providing a quality service to those who submit applications for different schemes. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Where any scheme experiences delays, all possible steps are taken to improve processing times. This is not...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Reform (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am absolutely confident in confirming to the Deputy that we have not and will not pay any GP who has sent in certificates with photocopies. I am not aware or a survey conducted by the national GP forum but I am keen to read it. I know the statistics and they show that 9,000 certificates come in every day on new forms. They are the stock we are replenishing. We are not replenishing the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: JobPath is a case management service that provides employment counselling and advice to long-term unemployed jobseekers with a view to improving their prospects of securing sustained employment. It complements the case management services already provided by the Department's staff via Intreo and other contracted providers such as the local employment service. JobPath operates on a payment...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is interesting that Sinn Féin knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing. I reiterate that the average cost to the State for the tens of thousands of people who have gone through JobPath is €780 per person. That is the average payment. The average cost per person for other contracted services we use is significantly higher and there is never a peep out of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I remind the Deputy that JobPath is a case management service that provides unemployed and underemployed people with advice and long-term employment assistance to help them improve their prospects of securing full-time work. That is it in a nutshell. There is no hounding or harassing people after they find full-time work in order to get some other further payment. It is simple. It is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Reform (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputy for his question. Illness benefit is a scheme under which people who are unable to work due to illness or injury are entitled to receive a weekly payment from the Social Insurance Fund. The basic rate of payment for a single person is €198 per week. Entitlement to the payment, which may be made for up to two years, is contingent on a person's social insurance...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Reform (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am absolutely sure that 70% or in excess of 9,000 certificates coming into the Department every day are the new forms. I am also absolutely sure that we made it perfectly clear when we issued the circular to GPs on 6 August that we would pay for the new forms but we would also continue to pay in respect of the old forms until such time as all stock of the old forms in our GP offices and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (19 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: In April 2012, the number of paid contributions required to qualify for a state pension (contributory) increased from 260 to 520. This change was signalled well in advance of its introduction. In 1993, "Developing the National Pension System - Final Report of the National Pensions Board” was published, and recommended that the number of paid contributions required to qualify for a...