Results 6,141-6,160 of 8,468 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

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-----

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes. I recognise it is a very substantial piece of work. This is really around taking and building on the activation work that has already been done by the Department and the committee. There is a lot of evidence out there and it is about gathering it but also placing the educational offering at centre stage and really examining how we can do that better in terms of building the careers,...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I wonder about the other issues indicated because it affects whether I will bring this issue back on Report Stage.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: As well as reviewing the back to education allowance, the real issue I am trying to highlight here is that of access to the back to education allowance. The Department is a main and prime channel whereby persons come to access it or even access the idea of seeking to access the back to education allowance. It is largely through agents of the Minister - caseworkers and so forth - that...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: Timing is a huge issue in regard to persons who become unemployed or are added to the register at a period of time when an appropriate course may be six or eight months away. That is perhaps something that can be examined internally. I am happy to withdraw the amendment in light of the Minister's comments.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 37: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 widening access to entitlement to make voluntary contributions with consideration given to—(a) the threshold of previous...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I believe it may be of interest to the Minister, given her interest in the issue of educational access. Amendment No. 37 very much relates to the substance of the sections in this Bill. I did not find a place within the sections where it should sit but it is around access to entitlement to make voluntary contributions. We saw an increase in the threshold of the previous contributions...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept the majority of what the Minister is saying. It is unfortunate for persons who find themselves at a point when they know that they are facing into a reduced rate pension and they are seeking this. I note the example the Minister gave of somebody who may have been, for example, the spouse of a person in the UK who has returned. In terms of financial independence, a number of people...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I wish to indicate that I have had a discussion with the Bills Office and I will be looking to put forward an alternative version of the amendment.