Results 1,021-1,040 of 28,255 for speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: There was no increase in the child benefit either.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: Okay. The fiction of the one-off Christmas bonus every year has not been provided for either.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: That is the way it is done every year. The money comes up and if it did not, the Minister would be in trouble, would she not? Even you appreciate that. I do not mean "even you", but the whole system appreciates that it will be given but it is never put in the Estimates for some mathematical reason in the Department and the Department of public expenditure and reform.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: This is important.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: One of the structural changes that I would be totally in favour of, and I wonder whether consideration was given to it, would be giving a double child benefit in September when children go back to school. When children go back to school, not only do they go back to school with all the attendant costs, but there are huge costs to joining all the various clubs, including for music, dancing and...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: The household benefits package includes mainly the so-called "free electricity", which is basically a cash payment to electricity companies on behalf of the recipients. Will the Minister outline how much is now paid per recipient and how has that changed in the past 10 years?
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: Am I correct that despite the soaring cost of energy and electric energy, in particular, the so-called "free electricity" allowance has not increased for a long time?
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: We are talking about ten years.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: What about in 2013? The number of pensioners has gone up considerably.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: Can we just go back? The person in receipt does not look at hundreds of millions of euro. They would like to know how much they individually get per two months against their bill and how many units of electricity that buys them.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: This used to cover people's electricity bill if they were very careful, particularly living alone. It does not do anything like that anymore. People face big electricity bills. The Minister can say she is giving free fuel-----
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: That is very useful but it was given universally, irrespective of a person's wealth. There is a way of targeting it. It is not perfect because a person could avail of the contributory pension and be very well-off, but taking all pensioners, they tend not to be as well-off as society in general. The €300 was an efficient way of paying it. I grant that and I never want to see it...
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: I am wondering how the lump sum that is paid into the licence is determined.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: The Department pays its lump sum. I am curious to know how that compares with the amount it would have to pay if it paid the full licence fee for everybody in receipt of a "free television licence".
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: That would be interesting.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: I have a point on the administration.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: I know. I accept that. The Minister is saying that there is no provision for any double payment of child benefit this year.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: The number of recipients has gone up since 2013 because the number of pensioners has gone up.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: On free travel, how is the amount the Department pays to both the CIÉ group of companies and private operators, which are also part of that scheme, calculated? How is it worked out how much the Department pays? That is my first question but I have a supplementary.
- Select Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 37 - Social Protection (Revised) (7 Feb 2024) Éamon Ó Cuív: Did that change when-----