Results 8,421-8,440 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts Data (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Low Pay Commission, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Neither my Department nor any of the statutory bodies under the aegis of my Department have contracts with the company in question.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I confirm that my department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person concerned on 21 September 2017. The application was awarded to the person concerned on 12 January 2018 with effect from 3 November 2016. The first payment will issue to their nominated bank account on 18 January 2018. Arrears of allowance due from 3 November 2016 to 17 January 2018 will...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Property Tax Administration (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Local Property Tax is now deducted over 50 calendar weeks, rather than 52. This change was necessary as a safeguard to afford customers the full benefit of the Christmas bonus and the double week payments and ensures that these additional payments are not absorbed by an automatic Local Property Tax deduction. It was also necessary to ensure that customer’s deductions would not reduce...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 600 and 601 together. The costings sought by Deputy O’Dea are detailed in the following tables. Table 1: Full year cost of varying amounts in all weekly social insurance payments Scheme €5 increase €10 increase €15 increase €20 increase €25 increase €m €m €m €m €m Social...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Data (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Maternity Benefit is paid by my Department and is based on payment of PRSI contributions while working. The current entitlement to paid maternity leave is 26 weeks. The following table estimates the cost of increasing the duration for which maternity benefit is paid by one to six weeks. These estimates are based on the cost for a full year and assume that any increase in duration is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Paternity Benefit (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 which was enacted in July 2016 introduced a new scheme of paternity leave and an associated social welfare payment of paternity benefit from the 1st September 2016. Since the commencement of the scheme on 1 September 2016, 32,784 paternity benefit claims have been awarded to 31 December 2017. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: My Department provides a range of income supports for carers including carer’s benefit, carer’s allowance, domiciliary care allowance and the carer’s support grant. The financial supports available to carers in Ireland are among the highest rates of income support in Europe. Carer’s allowance (CA) is a primary income support and its means test is one of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Applications (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned has made an application for Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA); however, it appears that they are still in receipt of payments from another jurisdiction. The Designated Person has requested that they contact the relevant authorities to close these claims and therefore allow their SWA claim to be processed. I hope this clarifies the matter for the deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Ministerial Remuneration (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I can confirm that once I was made aware of the overpayment of €17,551.25 referred to an arrangement was put in place to repay it at the rate of €1,000 per month, commencing on 5th October 2017.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Self-employed workers who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable for PRSI at the class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. This provides them with access to the following benefits: State pension (contributory), widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s pension (contributory), guardian’s payment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Funding (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 609 and 618 together. As the Deputies are aware, the Citizens Information Board (CIB) is a statutory body established by the Oireachtas. In addition to its own statutory responsibilities in relation to information and advocacy service provision, it has statutory responsibility for the countrywide networks of Citizens Information Services (CIS) and the Money...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The recently published Indecon report found that the changes to the one-parent family payment scheme (OFP) made over the last number of years increased employment and reduced welfare dependency. It also found that the changes increased the probability of employment and higher employment income for lone parents. The report also concluded that assisting lone parents to enhance skills also...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Anti-Poverty Strategy (23 Jan 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 (NAP inclusion) and its 2015-2017 update which concluded last year. My...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 34,400 recipients for which the Government has provided €180 million for in 2018. A county breakdown of rent supplement recipients is provided in the attached tabular statement. My Department continues to support the transfer of long term rent supplement tenancies to HAP...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: State pension (contributory) entitlement is calculated by the ‘yearly average’ system, where the total number of contributions paid or credited is divided by the number of years of the person’s insurance record. The maximum rate of pension is payable where a person has a yearly average of at least 48, and there are banded entitlements below that. In calculating the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: This is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Finance.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Bodies Data (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Citizens Information Board, the Low Pay Commission, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Council and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Two statutory bodies have been established by my Department since 2011, namely; - The Pensions Authority, formerly the Pensions Board, which was established on 7 March 2014, and - The Pensions...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Injury Claims (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The two agencies under the aegis of my Department, the Pensions Authority and the Citizens Information Board have not made any pay-outs for personal injury claims during the timeframe in question.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Citizen Information Services (23 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: The National Association of Citizens Information Services (NACIS) represents the boards, staff and volunteers of the 42 Citizens Information Services. The Citizens Information Board has allocated €55,000 to NACIS to fund its activities for 2018. NACIS has commissioned a review to help inform its future role, following the restructuring of governance arrangements which is underway...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: JobPath Programme (18 Jan 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....