Results 9,721-9,740 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Other Questions: Employment Rights (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputy for the question, and I am very glad he raised it because it is an important part of the Department now, as the very large mammoth that is the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Employment affairs, employee rights, employee engagement, the participation of unions and representation rights will all be very much to the fore of what we will do in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Low Pay Commission Remit (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: With respect, and the Deputy knows I have respect for him, opposition Deputies have an ability to make sweeping statements about Fine Gael before adding "Oh, well you might be different". Let me be very clear: I am privileged to be the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection with the Low Pay Commission under my remit. There is no doubt in my mind that during the duration of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Low Pay Commission Remit (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I cannot put it more strongly. It is in the programme for Government. I am in the lucky position of being responsible for achieving that goal and can genuinely say there is no ideological opposition from this cailín.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: As the Deputy is aware, the Citizens Information Board, CIB, which has statutory responsibility for the Citizens Information Services, CIS, and the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, decided on 15 February 2017 to restructure its governance arrangements to a regional model, comprising eight CIS and eight MABS companies. As a statutory body, the board has the sole right to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: A couple of swallows do not make a summer. I have acknowledged that a few representations have been made to me but that does not mean that there has been a swell of opinion on this. I will reiterate what I said on my appointment as Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. I followed up the small number of concerns which were raised with me. As I told the Deputy, I asked the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The purpose of the public services card, PSC, is to enable individuals to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimal duplication of effort, while at the same time preserving their privacy to the maximum extent possible. The purpose of SAFE 2 registration, underpinned by legislation, is to verify a person's identity to a substantial level of assurance. Once identity...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: By my Department.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Yes, my Department - that is key.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is right, several eminent people, none less so than the Data Protection Commissioner, legal experts and normal citizens have expressed concerns arising from statements made over the summer. The Data Protection Commissioner has asked for several things to be clarified. Staff from my office met with her and we are in the process of clarifying those issues. I do take on board that...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Public Services Card (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Very soon. I do not wish to mislead the Deputy. We have been working on it for the past two weeks.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Low Pay Commission Remit (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I suggest to the Deputy that is not the question that he asked me. The question he did ask was about the remit of the Low Pay Commission. The Low Pay Commission was established through the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015. Its principal function is, once each year, to examine the national minimum hourly rate of pay and to make a recommendation to the Minister...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Administration (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: That is nothing new. It has been the case under every former Minister in my Department which facilitates and supports community employment schemes which are an extremely valuable service. The Deputy is aware that there are several issues with community employment, Tús and rural social schemes. In the coming months there will be a review of participation in the schemes. However, they...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I can only look at the facts. All the evidence available to me indicates the experience of customers who have engaged with JobPath has been exceptionally positive. That is not drawn from anecdotal evidence. We did a customer satisfaction survey over the past couple of months which indicated that up to 81% of customers were satisfied with the service provided by JobPath and that it had...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: JobPath only looks after the long-term unemployed. The situation described by the Deputy does not occur. If he has actual evidence as opposed to anecdotal statements, I suggest he bring that evidence to me. If it did happen, JobPath would be operating outside the terms of its contract. I have had several discussions with the Deputy on this issue and I am always surprised by his view of an...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: JobPath Programme (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The service has not been privatised, it has been sub-contracted in the same manner a large number of services in social protection offices across the country have been sub-contracted. Talk of privatisation is ill-informed. The purpose of this scheme was to help people who were long-term unemployed get meaningful jobs and it is working. A total of 14% of the people who have gone to these...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Administration (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy is probably aware that since he put down the question, events have moved on a little. Local officers from my Department have been in ongoing communication with the Southill Pathways to Employment scheme. I am pleased to advise that they have resolved the matter and obtained adequate insurance for the scheme. By way of background, the responsibility for acquiring insurance...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes Administration (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The capitation grant is based on the size of the scheme and the number of people working with it, as well as the type of work it does with regard to required equipment. An intrinsic base and requirement of the community employment scheme is that it provide insurance cover for its own employees, as is the case for any business. The rise some community employment schemes have experienced in...

Leaders' Questions (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Next year it will rise by 30 cent.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am aware of the difficulties experienced by carers and their families especially in sad circumstances such as the loss of a family carer through bereavement. There is already provision within legislation for the continuation of payment of carer’s benefit and carer’s allowance for a period of six or twelve weeks respectively, following the death of a spouse, civil partner or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The State pension contributory is one of a number of pensions the State pays to people over 66. The rate of payment to a person is related to the number of contributions made into the Social Insurance Fund by that person. Entitlement levels are calculated by means of a ‘yearly average’ calculation, where the total contributions paid or credited are divided by the number of...