Results 6,361-6,380 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Unemployment Levels (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy cannot come in here and make claims which are blatantly false and which misrepresent the reality for the people in Tipperary. I am sorry but I will not allow it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department will spend an estimated €502 million on the one-parent family payment scheme in 2018. The scheme currently supports more than 39,000 recipients and their almost 73,000 children and has played an important role in providing income support to lone parents since its introduction in 1997. However, income support for lone parents was passive in nature in the past and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payment (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I do not have an ideological problem with any parent in this country and I ask the Deputy to be mindful of the comments or accusations he throws around. I have done nothing since I was appointed to this position in June 2017 but advocate as strongly and loudly as I can to destigmatise the issues around lone parenting and to support lone parents. I have made commitments to ensure I will...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: On the first point, the issue was raised in a number of submissions. I am a told a Deputy made a similar submission, although I am not sure if it was Deputy O'Dea. I am conscious it is one of the matters that has to be considered before we make the final decision. Forty years is the norm for many pensions and it is the number that will be required under the TCA 2012 model. When the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I cannot answer the first question as we have not made any decision yet. Again, it is not me who will be wedded to making the decision. It will be made mindful of all the submissions that are made. I want to ensure that when we introduce this next year or the year after in legislation, it will be with the agreement of all of us because we think it is the right thing to do for the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Unemployment Levels (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: As a result of the revised regional groupings, all of County Tipperary is now included in the mid-western region for CSO data collection purposes. Within this region, unemployment has fallen from a peak of 16.6% in 2012 to 5.8% at the end of July 2018. Numbers in employment in the region have increased from 153,700 to 214,200 over the same period. While data from the labour force survey...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I do not know whether Deputy O'Dea is aware of the long-standing relationship - it has existed for many years - between my Department and GPs. We rely on them not only for illness benefit, but also for carer's benefit and a variety of other schemes. They are an invaluable resource to both the people they serve and to the Department. We have never, ever told anyone to get on with anything,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: That information is incorrect.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Yes, but I assure the Deputy that it is incorrect-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy makes the facts up as he goes along.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Public policy on discussions or consultations with professional organisations such as those representing GPs has, since about the mid-1970s, been to engage with one representative body rather than try to negotiate or communicate with multiple bodies claiming to hold the mandate for that particular group of people. The Deputy cannot say on the one hand that one organisation represents 80% of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Improving services for our clients is also a very good thing, and that is what we will continue to do on both this scheme and across all schemes in which we can provide improvements and efficiencies.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The idea of a total contributions approach, or TCA, to State pensions dates back to 2007, when the then Government published the Green Paper on Pensions to stimulate debate on the challenges and the options for the future development of Ireland's pension system. This included the policy to introduce the TCA model. The consultation process was lengthy, thorough and inclusive and involved...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 56 together, if that is okay with Deputy Brady.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Illness Benefit Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department recently introduced redesigned claim and medical certificate forms for use in the illness and injury benefit schemes. The purpose of the redesign was to facilitate a new process within the Department whereby forms would be scanned rather than manually keyed into the new IT system. Claims received on the new forms and certificates are being processed into the payment system on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, my Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. An urgent needs payment (UNP) is a once-off payment made to persons who may not normally qualify for SWA but who have an urgent need which they...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: National Carers' Strategy Funding (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is clear through the commitments contained in both the Programme for Government and in the National Carers’ Strategy, that this Government recognises the crucial role that family carers play in Irish society and is fully committed to their support through a range of supports and services. The main income supports provided by my Department include carers allowance, carers benefit,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Eligibility (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: From the introduction of the invalidity pension (IP) in 1970 up to 1 December 2017, self-employed PRSI (Class S) contributions could not be used to satisfy the social insurance qualifying contributions for Invalidity Pension. The extension of Invalidity Pension (IP) to self-employed contributors from the 1st December 2017 has, for the first time, given the self-employed access to a social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Consultation Process (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The consultation process on the proposed reforms actually dates back to October 2007 when the Government published the Green Paper on Pensions to stimulate debate on the challenges and options for the future development of pensions. The consultation process was lengthy, thorough and inclusive and included regional seminars, a national conference, and consultation meetings with sectorial...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Pensions reform is a Government priority and the plans to achieve this are set out in the Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023, which was published last February. Among the key commitments contained in this plan is to develop, by 2022, a new ‘Automatic Enrolment’ (AE) supplementary retirement savings system for employees without pensions coverage. AE will see a transition...