Results 5,861-5,880 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am not interested in pressing an amendment solely for the sake of doing so. There are very few on which I would do so. I am just noting it.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It would have to be in a different examination but the Minister has indicated her thinking on the issue of income disregards so I may put forward an amendment regarding income disregards, in particular, on Report Stage.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.I move amendment No. 33: In page 14, after line 7, to insert the following: “10. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas examining potential improvements to voluntary access to Intreo and Local Employment Service (LES) employment, training and...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: No. I believe that is the Minister's policy and position. It has different levels of application in reality. I do not need to press the amendment but I suggest a greater promotion of that option could be made through some of the usual channels because people still regard it as somewhere they need to go almost by invitation or requirement. Unfortunately, occasionally it happens that...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: If the Minister is able to provide me with some information on that initiative, I would be happy to withdraw the amendment.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 34:In page 14, after line 7, to insert the following: “10. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection shall within three months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas reviewing and making recommendations regarding a potential re-entry credit to support those who have been engaged in care work for a...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes, in terms of one's pension. If we consider a person who has been fulfilling the requirement of having enough contributions within a set and defined period of time, many people will fall out of the set and defined period in terms of having enough contributions recently enough in terms of accessing certain schemes.For example, being registered as unemployed for a certain period is a...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am not referring to carer's' benefit or allowance. I am talking about care credits, as counted within the pension system. People currently receive carer's benefit if they are a carer for an adult. Those who are not registered carers and who may not qualify for carer's benefit or allowance, but are caring in the home-----

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the introduction of the home caring credit and the total contribution approach. Those credits, as well as having a value when it comes to retirement age, may also function in terms of having a value such as engagement with employment or training supports.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not necessarily mean a payment or financial value. This proposes that home caring credits would, like the period for which a person is required to be unemployed before certain employment training options are open to him or her, count in lieu of being on the live register for a time. One may need to be on the live register for six months before certain options become available. This is...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am happy to tease out the matter further with the Minister. This is about ensuring that the system works a little bit harder in order that people stay engaged. It is different if a person is told that due to his or her work as a carer for the past two or five years, he or she is entitled to X, Y, or Z in terms of resources, schemes, starting a business initiatives or educational options....

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: They may not always be in jobless households.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am happy to discuss this with the Minister. I know there are-----

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My point is that they are now in the social welfare system because they are getting credits in respect of their contribution in terms of care. It is a different invitation-----

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am simply suggesting that if those credits were also to count as re-entry credits, there would be a mechanism in place. It is different to telling people to sign on and that they will have options in six months' time or telling those who are thinking about re-entering the workforce after a period of care that they can access education. There is no point in going further on this.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw it.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are we discussing amendments Nos. 35 to 42, inclusive?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are we discussing amendments Nos. 35 to 42, inclusive, together?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 35: In page 14, after line 7, to insert the following:“10. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the provision of educational opportunities for people in receipt of social welfare payments, including:(a) an examination of the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2019: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Technically. I am keen that certain areas that have had very lengthy discussion move to become, if not an action, then a clear vector or trajectory towards potential policy change so that we move forward on some of the issues which have been batted back and forth in the last few years. I then decided that I would give it a generous eight-month period in recognition of-----