Results 7,421-7,440 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Other Questions: Labour Activation Programmes (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Would the Deputy like to see that in the RSS?

Other Questions: Labour Activation Programmes (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am sorry. I did not mean to interrupt the Deputy, but I just wanted to be 100% sure that I knew what he meant. There is no such training element in the RSS at the moment, because when it was established, I think by one of the Deputy's colleagues, it was specifically intended to address low-income people in the two particular sectors of farming and fishing. It aimed to use the skills of...

Other Questions: Poverty Impact Assessment (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: It is fair to say that tackling poverty remains a fundamental aspiration of all of us, regardless of the Department we serve in. The programme for 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 the Deputy has referred to, which ran...

Other Questions: Citizens Information Services (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank Deputy O'Dea, and I thank Deputy Curran for the question. The executive of the Citizens Information Board, CIB, is in the process of implementing the decision of the board to reorganise the governance arrangements of the 93 individual local company boards, comprising 42 citizens information services and 51 Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, companies, to create a new...

Other Questions: Citizens Information Services (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: The advice from the Attorney General is that I do not have the power, and neither would the Deputy if he were the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. I am quite happy to take the advice. To answer that Deputy's question, the advice is not the only reason. I have said before and say again for the record that I am satisfied the board of the CIB, which made its important...

Other Questions: Citizens Information Services (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Volunteers come and go in all organisations so one could not state one has lost volunteers for the specific reason outlined. I would be very surprised if the reasons people ebb and flow between voluntary and charitable organisations were collated. I had the privilege of speaking to probably 700 volunteers in Kilmainham last year. It is an annual day to reward, respect and congratulate...

Other Questions: Citizens Information Services (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: We have increased funding for it this year so it can provide valuable services to our deaf community. If I can find more money to provide more services to the community, through such a well-run, well-organised and well-governed State body, that is what I will do. I have every confidence in the management and new structure of this organisation.

Other Questions: Labour Activation Programmes (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Jesus, I hope we would never deprive anybody of the opportunity to participate on an activation course supplied by the State. The problem, and the reason I made the changes alluded to by the Deputy's colleague a couple of weeks ago, was that Tús and the community employment, CE, companies were telling me they were finding it difficult to fill their courses. It is certainly not because...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Benefit Eligibility (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Better Outcomes Brighter Futures is a framework and a national policy being developed by my colleague in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It is a collaborative report among different Departments, including my Department and the Department of Education and Skills. We might be able to do some analysis of the exact specifics the Deputy is looking at within the confines of that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Records (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: The use of facial matching technology has been employed by my Department for a number of years. What is proposed in this competitive tender process is a continuation and upgrade of this existing technology and related processes. It is important to note that the Department does not ask for or collect biometric data from its customers such as fingerprints, retinal scans or any other items...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Records (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I suppose it is a case of be careful what you tweet because it comes back to haunt you. The tweet still stands. We do not collect biometric data. We collect and store photographs. If someone has a public services card, they come in and get their photograph taken, we store that photograph and it gets put on the person's card. It is as benign as that. The facial recognition technology we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Records (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: It will be exactly the same as it is today. When someone got their photograph taken a number of years ago, that photograph was stored on a secure data server. If someone gets their photograph taken next Tuesday, we will keep the photograph in the same secure server in the same format we have always used. What we are tendering for is the software that drives the algorithm, which is the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Food Poverty (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: The primary role of the Department, through social welfare income supports, is to sustain an adequate standard of living for the people we serve and to prevent poverty, including food poverty. The Irish social welfare system is regarded as quite successful in that role. In 2016, the most recent year for which we have data, the social transfers to reduce the at risk of poverty rate from...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Food Poverty (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I will speak about the school meals programme in a moment, as we will make an announcement on it in coming weeks. I hope to see it extended and expanded, but I do not get to choose the list of schools. It is provided by the Department of Education and Skills. We just deliver on it and provide the funds. I hope and expect that it will be expanded. I have a couple of those teenagers at...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Benefit Eligibility (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Child benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time second level education or who have a disability. Child benefit is paid to 627,790 families in respect of more than 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Child Benefit Eligibility (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is correct that in 2009 the budget reduced the age for eligibility for child benefit from 19 years to less than 18 years for those who remain in secondary school, and that children are starting school a little older and, unlike when we were children, they are doing transition year and so are doing their leaving certificate when they are 18 years and over. Given the universality of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputies for their questions. I have not seen Deputy Willie O'Dea's Bill, but I know the gist of what he wants to achieve. I thank him for bringing it forward. It is not that I am giving him all of the credit, but, as I have stated here a number of times, I am not the only person who can come up with a good idea and I am very happy to listen to anybody who comes up with good...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I will answer Deputy John Brady first as I missed his questions the last time. I am constantly intrigued by his choice of words - "actively being targeted", "claimed" or "picked on". When somebody loses his or her job and comes to us to sign up as a jobseeker and receive a payment of €198 every week, he or she signs a claim form, as well as a commitment form to work with the arms of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: The people who claim and commit to working with the arms of the State are looking for work and want help. To answer Deputy Willie O'Dea, the programme is entirely flexible. It is not something that is to be newly introduced because it is already in place. To satisfy the Deputy's curiosity and my own, I will ensure both providers will continue to be flexible with people who take up...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Food Poverty (3 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I express my admiration for the work of the wonderful organisation that is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in assisting vulnerable persons the length and breadth of the country. My Department works very closely with it in addressing many issues that affect vulnerable persons, including food poverty. The Deputy may not be aware that my Department administers the Fund for European Aid...