Results 7,001-7,020 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 63, 72 and 77 together. While it is not appropriate for me to comment on an individual pension scheme, I am aware of recent announcements regarding the Irish Life pension scheme and plans to close the scheme to future accrual. I understand that the scheme is very much financially secure and its assets adequately cover all liabilities that will arise in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: Research repeatedly shows that the best way to tackle poverty among lone parents is through employment and the Indecon report on lone parents, published in 2017, echoed this view. The report found that the changes made to the one-parent family payment scheme in 2012 increased employment and reduced welfare dependency. It also found that the changes increased the probability of employment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: Tackling poverty remains a fundamental aspiration of Irish society and the Programme for a Partnership Government includes a firm commitment to develop a new Integrated Framework for Social Inclusion, to tackle inequality and poverty. This will be a successor to the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 (NAPinclusion) and its 2015-2017 update which concluded last year. My...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Rights (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: To qualify for a jobseekers payment a person must be unemployed, be available for and genuinely seeking work, and as a result be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7. Seasonal work can be full-time, part-time or casual. A seasonal worker who is employed on a full-time basis is not entitled to a jobseeker’s payment while in that employment. Contributions paid during this time can...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: Jobseekers aged 62 or over are not selected for activation and are not subject to mandatory activation measures. Penalty rates do not apply in these circumstances. They may, of course, avail of employment supports on a voluntarily basis. Jobseekers, who are already engaged in activation and turn 62, are required to complete the process. Penalty rates may apply should they fail to continue...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Youth Employment Initiative (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: Government policy to reduce unemployment is twofold. First, through policies set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs; and second, through Pathways to Work, to ensure that as many as possible of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register, including young...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Citizens Information Board (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for providing information, advice (including money and budgeting advice service) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services. CIB delivers on this remit through a network of service delivery partners including the Citizens Information Services (CIS) and the Money Advice and Budgeting Services...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Procurement Contracts (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: The use of facial matching technology has been successfully employed by my Department for a number of years. What is proposed, in the context of this competitive tender process, is a continuation and upgrade of this existing technology. In accordance with Government policy, the Department is running an open procurement for the provision of the services as described in the request for tender...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: Community Employment (CE) scheme supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector that receive public funding and are not employees of my Department, nor are they public servants. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) have taken the lead in addressing the entitlement of CE supervisors to occupational pensions. A Community Sector High...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Advertising Campaigns (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: The media campaign on false self-employment 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 main advertising campaign ran over a two week period from the 7th May, with digital and social media promotions...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Data (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to conduct research into contingent employment in Ireland. Contingent employment generally describes an employment relationship that is non-permanent – that is employees on temporary contracts and freelancers. The ESRI presented its initial findings at a WRC seminar on the World of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Family Support Services (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: The sole universal child-related payment for parents, regardless of their employment status, administered by my Department is Child Benefit. Child Benefit is a universal payment to help families with the cost of raising children and plays an important role in tackling child poverty. Receipt of the payment is not contingent on a means test or social insurance contributions. Child Benefit is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Data (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79 and 83 together. The number of persons in receipt of farm assist at year end was 7,234 in 2017, 7,828 in 2016 and 8,790 in 2015. Farm assist is a means-tested income support scheme for farmers. To qualify for the payment, a customer must be a farmer, farming land in the State, aged between 18 and 66 and satisfy a means test. The annual farm assist review...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Employment Rights (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is important in the interests of equity and fairness that the conditions for receipt of a jobseekers payment apply to all recipients, including those who could be categorised as seasonal and part-time workers. Where a person exhausts his or her entitlement to jobseekers benefit, he or she must pay 13 additional PRSI contributions after the last day of payment in order to requalify. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Reviews (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department is now reviewing the current maintenance and liable relative procedures, insofar as they relate to the one-parent family payment scheme administered by my Department, and work is ongoing on this review. This will necessitate my Department liaising with the Department of Justice and Equality as the Department responsible for the Family Law Acts, which govern family maintenance...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Birth Certificates (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: The General Register Office (GRO) operates under the aegis of my Department and has responsibility for the administration of the Civil Registration Service in Ireland. The Health Service Executive (HSE) is responsible for the day-to-day delivery of the Civil Registration Service through a network of local civil registration office across the State. Births are registered at local...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: The information (where available) requested by the Deputy is detailed in the following tabular statement. Average Weeks to Award May 2018 State Pension Contributory 6 State Pension Non-Contributory 13 Jobseeker's Benefit 1 Jobseeker's Allowance 2 One-Parent Family Payment 5 Widow(er)'s Contributory Pension 4 Maternity Benefit 6 Paternity Benefit 6 Disability Allowance 13 Illness...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Applications (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: As advised in the reply to Question No. 1224 of 12 June 2018, the person concerned was awarded an interim payment of supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) following the withdrawal of her widow’s pension on grounds of cohabitation. The SWA payment was awarded as an interim payment while the person was awaiting a decision on an appeal against the disallowance of their Pension and was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Public Services Card (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: A person’s date of birth is verified during the SAFE registration process which results in a Public Services Card (PSC) being issued. It is not, however, inscribed on the card. In many instances, holders of the PSC have expressed an interest in having their date of birth inscribed on the card in order to access certain services. To address this, one provision contained in Section 5...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Springboard Programme (19 Jun 2018)

Regina Doherty: Springboard+ is a specific initiative that strategically targets funding of free higher education courses for jobseekers in areas where there are identified labour market skills shortages or employment opportunities. Courses to date have been delivered in areas such ICT, Manufacturing which includes the biopharma sector, Construction, Entrepreneurship, Cross-Enterprise Skills, the...