Results 8,841-8,860 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I will not be able to go for a pint. We are currently conducting a review of the Social Insurance Fund. We have got the actuarial review to tell us what the state of it is, and we will probably launch a public consultation on pensions and the automatic enrolment provision that we are hoping to go forward with, if not next Tuesday, then the following Tuesday. The only reason I mention...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: May I be really cheeky? I asked for something similar a while ago and I was told that the Department does not collect the money, it only spends it. If the Deputy wants that information I suggest she asks the Minister for Finance for it in a parliamentary question.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I only get the pleasure of spending the money, not that of collecting it.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Self-employed workers who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable to pay PRSI at the Class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. For the purposes of determining whether an individual’s income exceeds the €5,000 annual threshold, income from all sources, including reckonable earnings from insurable employment and all...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I can confirm my office received an application for carers allowance form the person concerned on 9 August 2017. Additional information was requested by a deciding officer on 16 November 2017 in order to determine the entitlement. Once this information is received, the application will be processed without delay and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. I hope this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned was in receipt of carer’s allowance (CA) until 11 May 2016 when her claim was terminated as she had failed to supply documentation requested in course of a review. She re-applied for CA on 20 March 2017.On this application, the person concerned denied having any accounts in a bank, post office, credit union, building society or in any financial institution in this...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Payments (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Carer’s allowance was awarded to the person concerned on 4 November 2017 and first payment issued to her nominated post office on 23 November 2017. Arrears for the period 29 June 2017 to 22 November 2017 will issue shortly. The person concerned was notified of these details on 4 November 2017. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: My Department takes the issue of domestic violence very seriously. We are in the middle of Women's Aid's "16 Days" campaign which I fully support every year. I also recognise that my Department’s Maintenance Recovery Unit does a worthwhile job in assisting people where its assistance is required. The guidelines in place in my Department with regard to seeking maintenance are clear in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Complaints Procedures (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The first person concerned was in receipt of the Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension. This person concerned received a letter which mistakenly referred to the second person concerned as co-habiting with her. This is in fact incorrect as the wrong person was named in the letter. The Department wishes to apologise for any upset caused. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Applications (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Carer's benefit (CARB) is a payment made to full-time employees who leave the workforce to care for a person(s) in need of full-time care and attention. My department received an application for CARB from the person concerned on 24 July 2017. One of the qualifying conditions requires that the carer must have been employed for at least 16 hours each week in 8 out of the 26 weeks before the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Widow's Pension Appeals (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned was previously married in Ireland and divorced in Northern Ireland. His subsequent marriage to his late wife also took place in Northern Ireland. As set out in previous responses on this matter, the provisions pertaining to the recognition of divorce outside the State are set out in Section 5 of the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act, 1986....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance Payments (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I confirm this lady and gentleman are both in receipt of a reduced rate of disability allowance due to income from a private pension. The means assessment applied by the deciding officer is set down in legislation and therefore the deciding officer cannot deviate from the process. I can confirm that this lady and gentleman are financially better off receiving individual payments with the...

Social Welfare Bill 2017: Referral to Select Committee (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3)(a) and 149(1).

Social Welfare Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I thank Deputies on all sides of the House for their contributions on Second Stage in the past couple of days. I will take up a point made by Deputy Bernard J. Durkan about the people who have gone through the greatest trauma in the past six or seven years. Some have still not recovered, which is why when I opened the debate last Thursday, I spoke about how I hoped the Bill reflected the...

Social Welfare Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: It is very unfair.

Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: There is no discrimination. A specific protocol was established for Dublin because, unfortunately, the problem of homelessness is more prevalent here than in other parts of the country. I reiterate that anyone in any part of the country who is experiencing homelessness can avail of weekly social welfare payments and supplementary welfare allowance payments through their local Intreo...

Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I can give a definite date as to when I had the report as I received it yesterday. I cannot give the Deputy all the recommendations because the report is incredibly complex. I did meet the representatives of these workers, although I do not know if it was the Deputy or somebody else who organised it for me. I understand the exact situation that pertains to the people in the Deputy's county...

Other Questions: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am not trying to be smart but I think the people I met in Donegal are special because seasonal workers in the rest of the country are not quite in the same position. In the next couple of weeks, the Deputy and I can talk about how we can specifically fix the issue affecting the people he represents.

Other Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 49 together. We had a conversation about this under an earlier question. The Family Law Acts are the civil legislation that requires a man or woman, who wants to claim maintenance from their spouse, to go to family mediation or seek redress through the courts. There is a condition in the one-parent family payment in my Department that a parent...

Other Questions: Child Maintenance Payments (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I wish to put on the record of the House my gratitude to the lady in question, who was here earlier on. If she was not brave enough to go to a young journalist, Ellen Coyne, this week, I do not think I would have been aware of this case. We had heard anecdotal evidence but "he said-she said" scenarios are very difficult to work on. This lady was exceptionally brave. She is a fabulous...