Results 5,421-5,440 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Data (6 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 273 and 274 together. According to the records of my Department, 12,003 applicants for state pension (contributory) have been disallowed because they did not satisfy the minimum paid contribution requirement of 520. Of these, 6,085 applicants have 260 or more contributions, but less than 520. The Department's records indicate that 331 applicants...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Administration (6 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Work Schemes such as Community Employment (CE) are positive initiatives that enable long-term unemployed to make a contribution to their communities whilst upskilling themselves for prospective future employment. However it is important to note that participation on these schemes is intended to be for a temporary fixed-term and the positions offered are not full-time sustainable jobs....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Staff Data (5 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: There are no officials from my Department on secondment to any other EU member states' public sector.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (5 Dec 2018)

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: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (5 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department is currently in discussions with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in the development of specific climate change targets as part of an overall whole of government climate change action plan. Energy usage is the main contributor to climate change and the Department and its aegis are mitigating this as part of the Public Sector Energy NEAP 33%...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (5 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 304 and 305 together. The farm assist (FA) scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2019 Budget Allocation for the Farm Assist scheme...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: This was an Opposition amendment carried in the Dáil. There was a small deviation from the standard commencement provisions and on the Second Stage debate here, most of the Members of this House expressed their hope that the legislation we are talking about today would be put on the Statute Book as soon as possible, and I want that too. I had no objection to accepting the amendment but...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: It differs from the amendment in the Dail in that it states no later than six months from the passing of the Bill by Dáil and Seanad Éireann. Dáil and Seanad Éireann and the Members of both Houses are not the only people who have a responsibility in the passage of legislation. I have removed it and that is why it states "no later than 6 months after the date of its...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The slight is not on anybody in the legislative process. I did not put the six months in. This is the first time and it sets a precedent, which is remarkable in one way. There is no commencement order in any other Bill on our Statute Book. There is legislative process that is denoted by legislation and the Senator is fundamentally right, there are times the Dáil, the Seanad and the...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Senator's opinion is not shared by her Dáil colleagues. They argued for exactly the opposite of what she is calling for with this amendment. The offence provision has made both employers and employees sit up and take notice of this Bill. Every single one of us has been lobbied by one or both sides so we have got their attention. We did this because of the sanctions in the Bill....

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: The WRC has a year to initiate any prosecutions against an employer and that is what section 6B of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994, as inserted by section 10 of this Bill, is going to provide for. It is to match the other offences that are already in existence in employment law. If the report on offences and penalties was to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas a year...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am not sure where I gave the Senator the impression that I was afraid. I am absolutely not. I was trying to explain to the Senator that in primary legislation, and especially with regard to the 12 months that has been proposed in the amendment, any such report would be a blank page and would have very little information. It takes a while for new legislation to bed in and come into...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Section 13 of the Bill as passed by Dáil Éireann contained a definition of "employment regulation order" for the purposes of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Employment regulation order, however, is already defined in section 16(2) of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012. Consequently there is no need for two definitions of the term "employment regulation...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I apologise for looking like I did not know what the Senators were talking about, but I did not know until the end. The banded hours will change the situation and, therefore, we do not have the data. I am not sure where the anecdotal evidence came from to say that everybody is on 15 hours a week because not everybody is. It is our intention that the banded hours will resolve the issue...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I ask the Senator to discuss it with me after the debate. I do not understand the question and I do not want to make presumptions.

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I understand and I thank the Senator. On the Senators' gentle inquiries, the Department contacted staff from the school earlier. I cannot take credit for it because I did not make personal contact, but the Department is good and mindful of these issues. Senator Ardagh may not have heard because the decision was made at Cabinet only this morning, but the Cabinet approved changes that will...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I will be cheeky and respond to Senator Higgins on the previous amendment because now I actually know what I am talking about. The 25% of the hours or the 15 hours provision she mentioned is already contained in section 18 of the Organisation of Working Time Act. It is in the compensation section. It has acted as a deterrent against zero-hour contracts in the past. We are simply putting a...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Senators. I do not know why Senator Ruane thinks that was the only issue we had in the Dáil. Not only was the provision discussed at length on Committee Stage in the Lower House, it was also discussed at length on Report Stage when I happened to convince enough people that it should not be accepted. That is why we reversed it. I was on my own during the Committee Stage...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: There is. None of those Tesco workers, Dunnes Stores workers or any of the other people we are talking about - because in fairness we are not talking about teachers or the Defence Forces-----

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Regina Doherty: Let us take a case. Let us get a band of 20 of them together and take a case under the current legislation and test it.