Results 8,681-8,700 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: One is not required to have the card. It is illegal at present for anyone to ask one for the card. However, one is required to have gone through the SAFE 2 authentication process. The only way one can prove one has gone through it is to get the registration number from SAFE 2.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: Yes. I know we are always focussing on the card but the card is irrelevant.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: I do not propose to accept this amendment because fuel allowance is just one element of the Government’s strategy to tackle energy poverty, which is a complex and multidimensional matter. Energy poverty exists when people are unable to adequately heat their homes or meet other necessary household energy services at an affordable cost. I said on Committee Stage in the Dáil that...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am not proposing to accept this amendment. The bereavement grant was an insurance based payment. It was entirely based on the amount of credits that somebody had. It was valued at €850 and was usually paid to the person responsible for payment of funeral expenses. The scheme was abolished in January 2014. In 2013, the value of the scheme amounted to just over €20 million....

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: That is normal. With the previous amendment it was moved and pressed without me even being here, which is highly unorthodox. We move on at a pace.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Government and probably everybody in the country recognises and acknowledges the crucial role that family carers play in our society. We are fully committed to supporting carers in that role. The commitment is recognised in the national carers strategy. As the House may be aware, yesterday the Government agreed a new health service measure that will have a positive impact on the lives...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: The focus of the employment services provided through Intreo is on supporting and assisting people who are returning to work in whatever shape happens to be appropriate for them. Intreo services are already open to jobseekers - since our conversation last night, I have checked this - regardless of their status. Many of the people we help are not on the live register. Local employment...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: The action plan for jobless households in all of our local employment schemes, Intreo offices and departmental offices is based on voluntary participation. The pilot in the Action Plan for Jobs is being done in five regions. We will probably do it for approximately six months before we see real, quantitative data. In my experience, and it may be the Senator's also, when offered assistance,...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: A personal progression plan is an organic document that is personal to the individual jobseeker. I cannot state in more strenuous terms that it is not a contract or a legally binding document. It is a progression plan for someone who is out of work to get him or her into work. It is as simple as that. The Senator, as have others, has referred to them but these plans are not unique to...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: Yes. It should not happen.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: First of all, there is no need.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: I beg the Acting Chairman's pardon.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: Let me confirm that the personal progression plan is not a contract. It is not a legally binding document. It is not something that can be forced. It is supposed to be an aid, a pathway for somebody who is unemployed to being in employment. There is already a legal obligation on a jobseeker to inform the Department of a change in circumstances. It is not like we are trying to find out...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: Yes, absolutely. It is all about helping the person. It is not about being prescriptive because no two people and their pathways or barriers to work will be exactly the same. Just to let the Senator know, I will keep visiting the offices. If there are specific cases and they come in numbers, of course, I will look at them because I do not want anecdotal talk maligning something that is...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: We recognise that the labour market is changing. We have moved away from the historical and traditional working patterns to the gig economy. There is a whole new way of working that we never had before and the job activation schemes must reflect same. There are two reasons I do not want to apply this provision, specifically on its own. I ask the Senator to withdraw her amendment because...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: Yes.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: I totally agree with the Senator. I hope that her suggestion will form part of the report that we bring back to the joint committee and then we can talk about the best way forward.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: If the Senator withdraws her amendment and resubmits, it we will have a proper conversation on the matter tomorrow.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: Amendment No. 14 addresses the qualified child increases, QCI. I totally recognise not just what Senator Higgins said, but what NGOs have said, that it costs more money to raise teenagers. I have a few of them at home. We know that they go round with their hands out all of the time and that they grow out of clothes more quickly. I do not need to be told that. I would have loved to have...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: We will get that information to the Senator before the end of January. It will feed into what we will do next year.