Results 9,801-9,820 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

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

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 726, 736 and 743 together. The State pension is a valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the pension system. There are two State pensions related to State pension age. The State pension (non-contributory) is a means-tested pension funded from taxation, whereas the State pension (contributory) is not means-tested and is paid from the Social Insurance...

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

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 provided that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) available from 65 for those who satisfied the qualifying conditions, thereby standardising State pension age for all at 66 years, which is the current State pension age. This will increase to 67 in...

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

Regina Doherty: Carer’s allowance (CA) was in payment to the person concerned from 11 October 2012 to 7 June 2017 in respect of one care recipient. It is a condition for receipt of a CA that the carer is not engaged in employment or self-employment outside their home. However, where a carer can show to the satisfaction of a deciding officer that adequate provision has been made for the care of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Back to Education Allowance Scheme (BTEA) is designed to support second chance education. It enables eligible persons to pursue approved education courses and to continue to receive income support for the duration of a course of study, subject to meeting certain conditions. Access to BTEA at postgraduate level is available to persons who wish to pursue a postgraduate course of study...

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

Regina Doherty: Government policy on the promotion of employment is a matter for the Minister for Business Enterprise and Innovation and is set out in the Action Plan for Jobs. According to the Central Statistics Office, the average annual level of employment for recent years in the sectors referred to is as set out in tabular form below. Annual average employment ('000) - Manufacturing Services 2011...

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

Regina Doherty: The following table shows the number of carers receiving carer's allowance (CA) at the end of each year from 2011 to 2016 The CA scheme has seen a considerable increase in applications in recent years; applications for CA in 2016 were 20% higher than in 2015. Claims received to the end of August 2017 have increased by 16% on the same period in 2016. I hope this clarifies the matter for the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The requested information has been provided in a tabular format for the principal Social Welfare schemes below. Carer's Allowance Year Pending Year Start Registered Awarded Rejected Withdrawn Pending Year End 2016 5,461 22,722 19,308 11,144 1,429 3,490 2015 4,461 18,929 14,378 7,920 1,888 5,461 2014 2,719 17,759 12,560 7,078 1,610 4,461 2013 8,553 12,060 16,011 9,881 2,529 2,719 2012...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Housing Assistance Payment (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 733 to 735, inclusive, together. Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme currently supporting 38,600 recipients at a cost of €253 million in 2017. The scheme is being administered to take account of the on-going rental market difficulties through the implementation of a targeted case-by-case...

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

Regina Doherty: The Government’s primary strategy to tackle unemployment – including long-term unemployment and youth unemployment – is twofold. The Action Plan for Jobs supports continuing strong economic recovery and employment growth. Policies and actions to ensure that unemployed people benefit from the increase in employment are set out in the strategy paper Pathways to Work...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (20 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Chief Appeals Officer that the management and reduction of appeal processing times is a key priority which is kept under constant scrutiny. Tables showing the average appeal processing times for all appeals determined from 2014 to date in 2017 broken down by all social welfare scheme types are attached below. The Deputy will be aware from previous replies that...

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

Regina Doherty: The official measure of unemployment is sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). Measures of unemployment from the QNHS are based on International Labour Office (ILO) definitions. To be ‘ILO unemployed’ a person must in the week before the survey be without work but available for work and have recently taken specific job-search steps. The Live Register,...

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

Regina Doherty: The Government is committed to encouraging self-employment and entrepreneurship. This includes enhancing the position of the self-employed through a supportive tax regime and, very importantly, improving the level of PRSI based benefits available to self-employed people. Self-employed persons are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4% which covers them for access long-term benefits...

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

Regina Doherty: My Department currently provides a number of income supports to lone parents. These include the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) until the youngest child is 7 years of age and the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment (JST) payment where the youngest child is aged 7-13 years. The Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) payment can also be paid to lone parents where the youngest child is aged 14...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The legal basis for the appointment of marriage solemnisers in Ireland may be found in Part 6 of the Civil Registration Act 2004, as amended. Section 54 of the Act provides for the categories of bodies that may apply for registration of persons on the Register of Solemnisers maintained by an t-Árd Chláraitheoir (the Registrar General). These are: (a) The Health Service Executive...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Death Certificates (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The registration of deaths is provided for in Part 5 of the Civil Registration Act 2004. Specifically, section 37 of the Act provides that when a death occurs in the State it is the duty of a relative of the deceased, who has knowledge of the required particulars in relation to the death, to provide these particulars, within three months of the death, to any registrar. The required...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Central Bank of Ireland Data (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The employment rate for people aged 15-64 is just over 65%. This means that, according to the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) for Q1 2017 published by the Central Statistics Office in May, there are about 1.05 million people in this age group who are not working. As the employment rate has improved from a low of 59% in early 2011, the number of non-working people in this age...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 21 June 2017. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. These papers have been...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The farm assist scheme was introduced in 1999 to provide income support for low income farmers. It replaced the former smallholders’ unemployment assistance payment. In line with the then existing arrangements for unemployment assistance (including smallholders) and pre-retirement allowance, the income of farm assist recipients was exempt from class S PRSI for self-employed workers. ...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Expenditure (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: Child Benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children up to their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child Benefit is currently paid to around 627,000 families in respect of some 1.2 million children, with an estimated...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (11 Sep 2017)

Regina Doherty: The key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments – Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance – that are conditional on the recipient...