Results 9,181-9,200 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (8 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: According to the records of my Department, the person concerned has a total of 442 paid full-rate social insurance contributions. As this is less than 520 full-rate social insurance contributions, one of the qualifying conditions for state pension (contributory), the person is not entitled to the state pension (contributory) and was notified in writing of this decision on 23 November 2015. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Eligibility (8 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned was in receipt of illness benefit from 18/6/16 until 27/5/17. He received an interim payment of supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) for one week while his claim for jobseekers allowance was processed and he has been in receipt of jobseekers allowance with effect from 29/5/17. In addition, the person concerned submitted an application for invalidity pension with...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (8 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 23 October 2017. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (8 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The findings of the recent National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) and Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice (VPSJ) report on a minimum essential standard of living (MESL) for a single adult with vision impairment have been made available to my Department. The results of this research are a useful contribution to analysis on the issue of income adequacy in general. This...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (8 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Carer's Allowance (CA) is a means-tested social assistance payment, made to a person who is providing full-time care and attention to a person who has a disability such that they require that level of care. The Department periodically reviews claims in payment to ensure that there is continued entitlement. Following a review in this case it was determined that the evidence did not indicate...

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: First, the Deputy must have misunderstood me earlier. There will be no public consultation on this anomaly. We know what we need to do to fix it and we will do it. The public consultation is in regard to probably the most progressive changes we will be making as a State to our total pension contribution system, which will see sweeping changes in 2020. There is absolutely not a chance in...

Other Questions: Working Family Payment (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Department’s approach, my approach and that of my predecessor to the working family payment is guided by two principles: first, that we have to ensure that work pays and that it is worthwhile for people to go out to work, and, second, that it should have a positive impact on reducing child poverty in the country, which is still far too high. This is of particular importance to me....

Other Questions: Working Family Payment (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is right that it was unintentional. He is also right in what he heard. FIS is going to stay but it may be that it is modified to take out some of the inflexibilities that currently exist. What I am intent on doing is making sure the payments that will be under the umbrella of the working family payments ensure that people who are transitioning from unemployment into employment,...

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 provided that the State pension age will be increased gradually over time. This began in 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition), which was available to people aged 65 who satisfied qualifying conditions. This measure standardised the State pension age for all of us to 66 years and this will increase to 67 in 2021 and to 68 in 2028....

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I agree with the Deputy. Others have suggested that I bring in legislation that removes the legal obligation for people to retire at 65, but there is none. We could bring in that legislation, and I think there is a Private Members' Bill on the books already.

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: It would not make any difference. The reason for that is because nobody can be made to retire at 65 today, unless it says so in their contract. That legislation, if one was to bring it forward, would not change those contracts. What we need to do is change society's view so somebody at 65 does not have to be retired if they do not want to be. I met wonderful people yesterday. Sixty is...

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is right. From our own perspective, we have lost a huge and valuable cohort of people in certain sectors of the public sector because we made them retire at 60. It is mad.

Other Questions: Citizen Information Services (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The decision to restructure MABS was made by the board of the CIB. I think the CIB declined the invitation because the Chairperson and chief executive officer had already met the committee at a meeting in February where they felt the matter was comprehensively discussed. They set out their position clearly, including the rationale for the decision and the details of the lengthy consultation...

Other Questions: Citizen Information Services (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I know I said previously that I was not good at sticking my nose in but I will ask the CIB to very positively consider the joint Oireachtas committee's request to come before it and to do so sooner rather than later. That is the best I can do for the Deputy.

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64, 78 and 79 together as they all relate to the same issue. I can give the Deputy the very long version or I can just give him the short version that I have already given. The Deputy is able to see the long version, which tells him exactly what we have done, where we are moving to in terms of the total contributions model and details the public consultation...

Other Questions: State Pensions (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is probably correct in saying that when the changes were introduced in 2012 their impact was probably known. I would go further than that. The authors of the pensions report from 2010 knew what the impact would be on particular women. It was an issue that was known on paper but which probably did not manifest itself fully until the women started to come to the office of Deputy...

Other Questions: State Pension (Contributory) (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 84 together, Deputy Niamh Smyth's and Deputy Bernard J. Durkan's questions, although he is not here.

Other Questions: State Pension (Contributory) (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: If I go off script just for one second, I will be murdered. We are all aware - I know that it looks like I am blue in the face - but perhaps 99% of the people of the country have still not heard us say we are moving to a new model, to which I hope we will move in 2020. We will undertake a public consultation process, from the end of this month or the beginning of December, when...

Other Questions: State Pension (Contributory) (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy makes an interesting point. I never copped it before. I have never had a man come into the office at home to complain about this anomaly.

Other Questions: State Pension (Contributory) (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: Maybe that is why we are talking about it. I was not being smart when I was talked about it being a women's issue. We are proud people. I am not there yet, but my mother is. Other people's mothers were in the situation where they got a surprise, as the Deputy said; when they had reached the end of their working life, they found that they would receive less than they had expected in their...