Results 8,281-8,300 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Working Family Payment Data (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: Working Family Payment (WFP) formerly Family Income Supplement (WFP) is an in-work support, which provides an income top-up for employees on low earnings with children. WFP is designed to prevent in-work poverty for low paid workers with child dependants and to offer a financial incentive to take-up employment. There are over 57,000 families with more than 129,000 children in receipt of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: Funding towards school meals is being provided in 1,540 schools and other organisations, supporting over 230,000 children at a cost of some €54 million in 2018, representing an increase of €6.5 million over the previous year. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. The scheme provides funding for a...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Bereavement Grant (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the introduction of a bereavement grant. During the economic downturn, my Department protected primary social welfare rates and in recent years, as the economy recovered, the Government has concentrated resources in improving the core rates of payments, particularly for pensioners. Abolishing the bereavement grant provided a significant annual...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) Applications (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence including that adduced at the oral hearing, has decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Before a decision can be made on entitlement to carer’s allowance, evidence must be provided in respect of the care recipient’s care requirement, the level of care the carer...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: On 23January, the Government agreed to a proposal that will allow pensioners affected by the 2012 changes in rate bands to have their pension entitlement calculated by a new "Total Contributions Approach" (TCA) which will include up to 20 years of a new HomeCaring credit. This approach is expected to significantly benefit many people, particularly women, whose work history includes an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Prescribed Relatives Allowance preceded the introduction of the Carer's Allowance scheme. It was payable in respect of a relative (specified in legislation) of a social welfare pensioner, who was living with and providing full-time care and attention to the pensioner. Initially, the allowance was paid by way of an increase in the pension payment. In 1989 provision was made for direct...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer's decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The State pension (non-contributory) is a means-tested payment and the weekly rate payable is dependent on the means of each claimant. Account is taken in the means test of the value of property (other than the family home) and capital the person may have as well as cash income such as earnings from employment or self-employment, occupational pensions, foreign social security pensions and so...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Offices (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Department currently has 58 Social Welfare Branch Offices at various locations throughout the country. Each Branch Office is operated and managed, under a contract for services, by a Branch Manager who is required to act as an agent for the Department in the area served by the office. Branch Office managers operate on a contract for service and are independent contractors. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Training Support Grant (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Training Support Grant (TSG) provided by the Department is designed to fund access to short-term training where this cannot be provided by a state provider within a reasonable time or where a intervention is identified that can support individual jobseekers to access work opportunities. The scheme is activation focused and the jobseeker is required to provide reasonable evidence or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Data (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: JobPath is an employment activation service that supports people who are long-term unemployed, including those working part time and those at risk of becoming long-term unemployed, to secure and sustain full-time paid employment. All jobseekers over one year on the Live Register are eligible for selection for the JobPath service and clients are chosen by means of a random selection process....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Data (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: JobPath is an employment service designed to support people who are long term unemployed (over one year) to obtain and sustain employment. The Department published an updated cohort report on the performance of the JobPath strand of the Department's activation services at the beginning of January 2018. The report can be accessed on the Department’s website at the following link. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The primary goal of the Department’s activation services is to move people from unemployment to full-time and sustained employment. All jobseekers are required to engage with the Department’s activation service and this obligation applies irrespective of whether the service is provided by the Department’s own case officers or those advisors employed by external...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Data (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Training Support Grant (TSG) previously known as the Technical Employment Support Grant (TESG) is funded by my department. TSG is designed to facilitate quick access to short-term training where this cannot be provided by a state provider within a reasonable time or where an intervention is identified that can support individual jobseekers to access work opportunities. JobPath...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The person in question was awarded Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) from 12 September, 2017 and is currently in receipt of this payment. The person in question was in receipt of Carer’s Benefit immediately prior to JA. To qualify for Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) a client is required to have 9 months' continuous entitlement to a primary eligible payment. Time spent on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) is designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are on social welfare payments to develop a business while allowing them to retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment over two years: 100% in year 1 and 75% in year 2. In 2016 a review of the BTWEA scheme was conducted. Overall, the review found that the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Delays (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as quickly as possible. Before a decision can be made on entitlement to carer’s allowance, evidence must be provided in respect of the care recipient’s care requirement, the level of care the carer...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Non-Contributory) Applications (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: The State pension non-contributory claim of the person concerned has been reviewed based on comprehensive information now provided of her farming activities and the verification of her actual income from farming over the past three years. While acknowledging that the pattern of her farming activity has changed, the documentation examined and the inspector’s interview with the person...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Illness Benefit Waiting Times (6 Feb 2018)

Regina Doherty: Illness benefit is a short term payment made to insured people who are unable to work due to illness. The payment is funded by the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) through the payment of PRSI contributions by workers and employers. Normally, payment of illness benefit begins from the seventh day of the illness; no payment is made for the first six days, known as “waiting days”....