Results 7,221-7,240 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: -----would the Sinn Féin proposal result?

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: The health service and its staff have considerable achievements to show, particularly in the context of four or seven years ago when they were subject to the trials and difficulties of an economy crashed by Fianna Fáil through the bank guarantee and the collapse of the construction industry and resources were tight. Notwithstanding that, as patients throughout the country will verify,...

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: This does not mean the health service does not have problems or that it is not requesting additional funds. The scale of the challenge for the health service was acknowledged when, as part of the budget for next year, an extra €900 million was allocated to our health service. Performance reports indicate that waiting lists had reduced by the end of August. We are also developing a...

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy may have sought to read her scripted remarks with some force, but she utterly lacked any sense of conviction, as if she would know, as a member of a party led by somebody who had to hop across to America for his private health treatment, or as if she would have any idea of what the health service in this country is about.

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy's condescension and patronising remarks towards the hard-working staff of the health service-----

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy is not familiar with the views of women on this issue.

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: We should reflect before we re-establish another entity which was in place in different times before the industry changed dramatically. By the way, the Deputy would not dismiss the higher insurance premiums charged to women out of hand if he was a woman looking at her insurance bill.

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: Deputy Michael McGrath needs to talk to some of the women in his life who will tell him about it. Let me tell him: it is a very sore point. The Deputy is saying the insurance companies are overcharging for motor insurance cover and that he wants to see motor insurance premiums come down. I have no difficulty in agreeing with him. He is his party's finance spokesperson. We provided for...

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: -----before we set up what the Deputy is proposing which, effectively, would be a quango. I do not have a problem with-----

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: The PIAB, for instance, has done very good work, which I acknowledge, in cutting the cost of claims and keeping them out of court. However, with all of the people working in the Central Bank, we should be able, through the members of the finance committee, to receive a detailed report from the Central Bank-----

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: I am sorry, but the Central Bank is the regulator in terms of both prudential regulation and the regulation of the insurance industry in general.

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: They have all of the figures. I will write to the new Governor of the Central Bank to say this is a very important consumer issue.

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy talked about something slightly different in the case of the Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan. I am perfectly happy to and will write to the new Governor who only took up office two weeks ago to ask him, given that he has a lot of economists working for him, to undertake a detailed review of the matter, as the Central Bank has done in a series of other areas in quarterly reports...

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy should not say to consumers that they should not shop around.

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputy for raising an issue which is important for many people. Anyone who owns a car is aware of the pressure from insurance companies in terms of rising premiums. That said, this is happening at a time when fuel prices have fallen substantially. In many cases, for example, people going back to work who are commuting in the greater Dublin area, notwithstanding the pressure...

Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: There are several factors which explain the rise in motor insurance premiums, one of which emanated from the European Union a number of years ago and involved the equalisation of charges for female and male drivers. As Deputy Michael McGrath will know, that equalisation process worked to the advantage of younger male drivers who tend, unfortunately, to feature more often in accident...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Data (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: Based on macro-economic indicators for 2016 the number of employees who will be below the €38 Pay Related Social Insurance (Class A) threshold is 9,750. This represents under 0.5% of the projected total Class A contributors for the year.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 43 and 56 together. The average appeal processing times for 2014 and to date in 2015 broken down by all social welfare scheme types are outlined in the following tables. Appeal processing times generally peaked in 2011 when the overall average time for an oral hearing was 52.5 weeks and 25.1 weeks for a summary decision. In 2014 average appeal processing...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Data (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 57 together. Trends in the data on young persons not in education, training or employment indicate that there was a significant worsening in labour market conditions for young people between 2007 and 2010, and that there has subsequently been a substantial improvement that began in 2012. The post-2012 period has seen improvement both in absolute terms...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Reform (17 Dec 2015)

Joan Burton: I am pleased that this Government will be increasing the National Minimum Wage for the second time from January 2016, up from €8.65 to €9.15 per hour. I am also introducing the tapered PRSI Credit as part of Budget 2016, to address a significant issue with the manner in which charging PRSI impacts those on lower weekly earnings. This will also benefit many of those gaining...