Results 5,821-5,840 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Payments (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: The doctors who use the new medical certificates were among the 80% who were not affected. In effect, had the system gone the way it was supposed to go it would have worked but it gave rise to other anomalies that we did not recognise because of the changes we had to make in the response to people using the old medical systems. That is our fault, nobody else’s fault. The...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy is aware from previous questions on this matter, the Department is working on a review of the maintenance and liable relative procedures, insofar as they relate to the payment schemes operated by my Department. From a broader perspective, the wider issues relating to maintenance, including the establishment of a child maintenance service to assist lone parents, are a matter for...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I kind of tend to agree with the Deputy but I am not sure whether we should expand or do away with it. I am not sure it is our job in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to chase errant parents. It is definitely somebody's job but I am totally against penalising women, as they are in the main, for not chasing the errant partner to look after their children. I have...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: We do not.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Whether we expand or downgrade our liable relatives division has no impact on a parent's poverty whatsoever because the payment issued to the parent is done on the basis of that parent's circumstances. If they get maintenance there is a very generous maintenance disregard. If they do not get maintenance it is not included in our assessment. They do not get it and we compensate for the fact...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Payments (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputies. I am not standing here in front of anybody trying to justify any of the actions that happened over recent months. I have said on a number of occasions that this is particularly difficult to accept because an exemplary level of service is offered by people in the Department 99.9% of the time. That is why this debacle is so difficult to try to explain. I assure Deputy...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Payments (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 70, 71 and 74 together. My Department has experienced significant difficulties in processing illness benefit payments in recent times which, regrettably, have impacted on people in a manner that has correctly been described as unacceptable. This is a matter of great concern to me and my Department. I am extremely disappointed and embarrassed by our failure...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Homemakers Scheme (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: A policy to introduce the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to pensions calculation was adopted by Government in the National Pensions Framework in 2010, as was the decision to base the entitlements of all new pensioners on this approach from around 2020. In advance of this, on 23 January last, the Government agreed to allow pensioners, born on or after the 1st September 1946, affected by...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Delays (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Carer's Allowance is a means-tested payment, made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Waiting Times (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81, 83 and 91 together. My Department has experienced significant difficulties in processing illness benefit payments in recent times and regrettably these difficulties impacted people in a manner that has correctly been described as unacceptable. This is a matter of great concern to my Department and I am extremely disappointed and deeply embarrassed by our...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Working Family Payment (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Christmas Bonus is paid to long-term social welfare recipients, such as pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, lone parents and long term unemployed people, who rely either wholly or mainly on their social welfare payments for financial support. The payment will benefit more than 1.2 million social welfare recipients this year. The Working Family Payment (WFP) is an in-work...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: 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 Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act 1986....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Both Disability Allowance and Domiciliary Care Allowance claim processing times are within their respective targets. In October 2018 the average time taken to process new Disability...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Rights (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 90, 104, 109 and 112 together. The media campaign on false self-employment carried out by the Department in May 2018 was aimed at ensuring that there is better public awareness of the important service the Department provides in determining employment status and to help develop a better understanding of the scale and nature of false self-employment. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: There has been no decision on the number of years required to qualify for a maximum rate pension under the Total Contributions Approach that will apply from 2020, and so the question of publicising such a decision does not, at this point, arise. This issue was, in fact, one of the matters the consultation sought opinions on, and those opinions will inform the final design of that scheme. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Gender Proofing of Policies (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Programme for a Partnership Government included a commitment to develop a process of budget and policy proofing as a means of advancing equality, reducing poverty and strengthening economic and social rights. The recent ESRI report “The Gender Impact of Irish Budgetary Policy” is a valuable contribution which will further inform this process. In terms of the findings, the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Waiting Times (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 96, 105, 111, 125 and 128 together. My Department transferred administration of the Illness Benefit scheme to its core Business Objects IT platform in August 2018. Although the system change has worked effectively for over 80% of IB customers, significant difficulties arose following implementation for a number of customers. My Department is taking...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Housing Assistance Payment Data (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to those with a long-term housing need is transferring to local authorities. The strategic policy direction of my Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short-term income support scheme. The HAP scheme has been rolled out on incremental basis since 2014...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Parental Leave Expenditure (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: As part of Budget 2019, I was pleased to announce that 2 weeks paid parental benefit will be provided to both parents from late 2019 for the first year of a child’s life. This is in line with the Programme for Government commitment to prioritise additional paid parental leave in the first year. The projected cost of 2 weeks paid leave for both parents is €32m in a full year....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (13 Nov 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am informed that Foster Parents are paid a weekly allowance by Tusla of €325 for each child under the age of 12, and €352 for each child over the age of 12. These payments are not taxable, are not subject to PRSI deductions, and are not taken into account for the purposes of means tests administered by my Department, and there are no plans to change this. As a consequence, a...