Results 6,401-6,420 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Living Wage Introduction (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Legislation in relation to the setting of the National Minimum Wage has existed since 2000. More recently, the Low Pay Commission was established in 2015 and its primary function is, on an annual basis, to examine and make recommendations on the national minimum wage, with a view to providing for incremental adjustments which do not impact negatively on jobs or competitiveness. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 22 May 2018.  The application was awarded to the person concerned on 12  September 2018 with effect from 24 May 2018. The first payment issued to her nominated bank account on 20 September 2018.  Arrears of allowance due from 24 May 2018...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: My department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 19 April 2018.  Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: An application for carer's allowance (CA) was received from the person concerned on 31 July 2017. It is a condition for receipt of a CA that the person being cared for must have such disability that they require full-time care and attention. This is defined as requiring from another person, continual supervision and frequent assistance throughout the day in connection with normal bodily...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. An application for CA was received from the person concerned on 31 August 2018. The application is currently being...

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

Regina Doherty: The cost of increasing the age limit for a qualified child for the jobseeker's transitional payment (JST) to when the youngest child turns 18 years of age is not easily estimated. There are significant barriers to undertaking such an exercise.  For example, customers may no longer be within the welfare system, while others could seek to move from alternative payments such as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Maintenance Payments (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department is currently reviewing the maintenance and liable relative procedures, insofar as they relate to the payment schemes operated by this Department.  From a broader perspective, the wider issues relating to maintenance are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality, who has responsibility for the Family Law Acts, which govern...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Data (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Carer's allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment made to a person who is habitually resident in the State and who is providing full-time care and attention to a child or an adult who has such a disability that as a result they require that level of care. When a person who is receiving CA stops providing full-time care and attention or where their means exceed the statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (26 Sep 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 the 23rd January, the Government agreed to a proposal that will allow pensioners affected by the 2012 changes in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Data (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Applicants for state pension (contributory) are awarded the highest entitlement rate achievable based on the totality of their social insurance contribution history.   When an application for state pension (contributory) is received, the Deciding Officer will first assess the person's entitlement to a standard Irish pension, based on their Irish social insurance...

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

Regina Doherty: The Government intends to introduce a Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to establishing level of entitlement for all new state pension contributory claims from 2020 onwards (TCA2020). I launched a public consultation on this proposal earlier this year in May.  This formally closed on the 3rd of September.  My Department has now started studying the submissions. ...

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

Regina Doherty: State pension (contributory) is an insurance-based payment, paid to people from the age of 66 who satisfy a number of qualifying conditions.  The number of persons currently in receipt of state pension (contributory) is 404,136.  The following table shows the number of state pension (contributory) recipients over the past ten years.  Due to demographic trends and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) Data (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: Applicants for State pension non-contributory must be aged 66 or over, be permanently residing in the State, satisfying the habitual residence condition and a means test. The following tabular statement shows the numbers of recipients at the end of each year, reflecting a gradual downward trend as more people have sufficient contributions to qualify for State pension...

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

Regina Doherty: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. Basic weekly SWA may be paid to customers awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment.  In...

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

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 18th September 2018.  It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer/Designated Person on the grounds of appeal be sought.  When these papers have been received from the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Deserted Wife's Benefit Data (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deserted Wife's Benefit scheme was closed to new applicants with effect from 2nd January 1997, when the One Parent Family Payment was introduced.  A total of 6,254 individuals continue to receive Deserted Wife’s Benefit because they qualified for the payment before 2nd January 1997. In order to continue to qualify for this payment, the claimant must...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Widow's Pension Data (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: From 1st January 2013 to date, 35,101 widow(er) or surviving civil partner's (contributory) pension claims have been stopped.  Of these, 30,096 claims were stopped due to the death of the claimant.  The remainder have been stopped for a variety of reasons including approximately 2,500 who moved to another payment...

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

Regina Doherty: The average appeal processing times for all appeals determined this year to the end of August broken down by all social welfare scheme types is outlined in the following table.  My Department, like all Government departments and agencies is required to operate within a staff ceiling figure and a commensurate administrative staffing budget, which for this Department has involved...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Data (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, one-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided over €36 million for exceptional payments in 2018. The ENP scheme is demand led and payments are made at the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Payments (26 Sep 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Department experienced some delays following the introduction of a new system and forms for Illness Benefit. The change is part of an on-going programme of modernisation in the Department which took effect from Monday 6 August. Some GPs have continued to use the old forms after this changeover date which the Department has, to date, continued to accept in the interest of paying our...