Results 5,661-5,680 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: The answer to the first question is "Yes" and I can tell the Deputy that the report will probably be issued in the first quarter of next year. We got into the habit of putting reports into legislation in a manner that is not required. We have a commitment to issue the report and there is no need for this amendment, given that the report is going to be published in the first quarter of 2019....
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: I totally agree with the Deputy. I thank him for raising the issue a second time. He raised it in the Dáil the other day. I agree with him that there is an anomaly in the system. The domiciliary care allowance, DCA, scheme works incredibly well, particularly after the reformation of the application form a number of years ago with the DCA Warriors. I acknowledge the tremendous work...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputy and ask the Chairman for his indulgence. Deputy Broughan is not here and I know his amendment has not been moved. I want to assure the committee that the legislation never contained the word "unforeseen". A number of years ago the word was inserted in departmental guidelines for practical purposes. Due to a particular case, and I think we all know the case, the word or...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. Everybody in the Dáil or Seanad recognises and appreciates the caring that is provided by friends, family members and people in our communities up and down the country. All Members recognise that the country's common good could not survive without the thousands, if not millions, of hours given by those people to other neighbours, friends...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: The work the committee did on lone parents was one of the committee's biggest successes. It provided a platform for lone parents to talk about the difficulties they have and particularly the prejudices they face in society. I disagree with the Deputy because the recommendations in the report were heard and heeded by the Department, particularly since I took office a couple of years ago. In...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: A tremendous amount of work was done by the committee and that was heeded by the Department and me. I am not sure what the Deputy wants. We will do the report but three months is not feasible given that there are other reports to be done. There are only so many people who can do reports in the Department. Is the Deputy concerned that if the committee does a report we will not heed it? If...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: Every summer, and this predates my time as Minster, the Department holds a pre-budget forum in Dublin Castle where it listens to views of 45 different representatives of community, voluntary and employer representatives. They discuss their priorities and wishes for the budget the following year. The priorities that emerged in this year’s consultation included a higher rate of payment...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: I cannot accept this amendment for several reasons. Firstly, the Department does not distinguish between child maintenance and adult maintenance generally. The purpose of means testing social welfare payments is to ensure that when resources are targeted, they hit the targets at whom they are aimed, that is, the people who need them most. Social welfare legislation provides for the means...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: It is €95.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: They are €95 a week better off because it is disregarded.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: Yes.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: I will answer two questions from Deputy O'Dea. First, that used to be the case but the practice was changed earlier this year for a number of reasons. We started looking at lone-parent families and the conditionality that was set and some of the precarious situations some women were put in and we addressed that. We also looked at the practice, which was not universally applied around the...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: That is fine.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: If I have to do a report, I will do it. It is no big deal. Deputy Brady will need to remove the words "child maintenance" as Deputy Penrose suggested. It would be impossible for me to do it otherwise.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: That is fine.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: Not really. I am not sure how I can be of any help. The two schemes are different. If we had a whole load of schemes with exactly the same rules and potential outcomes, we would have to ask why we did. Tús has a particular remit and CE schemes have a different one and that is why they have different rules.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: Yes.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: It is no problem.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: Deputies Penrose and O'Dea raised this issue in the Chamber last week. The only reason I did not table an amendment is that I am not 100% sure of the dates yet. If what the Deputy said is true, we will bring in an amendment on Report Stage. The Deputies do not have to worry. If it needs to be fixed, it will be fixed.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Committee Stage (22 Nov 2018)
Regina Doherty: That is great. Be absolutely assured that if the dates need to change, we will bring in an amendment.