Results 10,921-10,940 of 19,379 for speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I regret that the amendment cannot be accepted. I hope common sense will prevail on the part of those deciding officers looking at this issue, given the intention to make a change and take heed of the special contribution retained firefighters make. This indication had been given previously by the Minister and I ask that it be heeded, particularly in cases where there is no other income and...

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: This section introduces a new provision. While I understand what the Minister is attempting to do, it does not address the change to the one parent family payment which was introduced in previous legislation. It is trying to undo something that should not have been done in the first place. When the Minister made her most recent changes to the one parent family payment, she said child care...

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 8:In page 15, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “(4) Retained firefighters who have previously applied for a jobseeker's payment before the enactment of this Bill and have not had their claim approved shall be assessed on their current application.”As one of a number of Deputies who campaigned to try to change the way the Department had been...

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I want to contribute to this part of the debate by supporting what Deputy Naughten has said. When we previously discussed the PRSI contributions of the self-employed, we mentioned that if they were to be the equivalent of the contributions of other employees, they would have to be 14% or 15%. Has any further progress been made in setting up a kind of scheme that would have the effect...

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I will withdraw it.

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: The intention of my amendment is not to tie up the Department, other than that there would a response to the appellant within 21 days. I understand the Minister's point about the final decision. One of the beauties of the system is that up to the date of an appeal, an applicant can submit additional documentation, and even during an appeal it might be noted that an applicant has additional...

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 3:In page 7, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:“Social Welfare Appeals 6. The Social Welfare Appeals Office shall ensure that all appeals are processed and responded to within 21 days of receipt of the application to appeal a decision.”.At present, despite the good work of the Social Welfare Appeals Office, there is still an unacceptable...

Finance (Local Property Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 [Private Members]: Second Stage (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: It is scandalous.

Finance (Local Property Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 [Private Members]: Second Stage (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Maith an fear.

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Are the attachment orders only valid in the State? Can they be pursued in other European states? The Minister has stated there are 675 cases before the courts.

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: The Minister, however, stated of the 63,000 claimants in receipt of overpayment, fraud is suspected in 38% of cases. That would put the figure involved in fraud near 20,000. Considering that only 675 cases are in the courts system, it seems a significant amount of fraud cases are not actually prosecuted. Are agreements made to settle these cases before they get to court?

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I was interested to hear the data supplied by the Minister. The new figures would have been even more skewed for last year when one considers that 60,000 social welfare recipients had an overpayment of one week in respect of their fuel allowance in 2011, that overpayment being subsequently deducted. The tabloid media would describe those overpayments as fraud because that is how all such...

Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: It is bizarre that such a huge change is being introduced to social welfare legislation at the last minute. There was no indication of this when we dealt with the issue of overpayments not long ago in the context of changing the legislation to allow for a greater amount of overpayments to be recovered from those still in receipt of social welfare payments. It is odd that this amendment is...

Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I too want to oppose the proposal to have a guillotine on the debate on this legislation which has only been published and to which even up to yesterday the Minister was publishing amendments. This Government since it came to power would put the French Revolution's Committee of Public Safety and its use of guillotines in the tuppence ha'penny place, as it would Fianna Fáil Governments...

Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Both parties in government used to be on this side of the House and they criticised the then Fianna Fáil government for the exact same policy, of which Deputy Dooley and his colleagues were guilty in the past.

Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: More than 50% of the legislation that has been produced by this House has been guillotined and that has prevented debate. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, said when she was on this side of the House that the dependence on guillotines was patently and blatantly unfair, was an insult to the work of the House, was wrong practice and procedure and asked whether the then...

Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: A guillotine was not required.

Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I oppose No. 11, the order to rescind the referral of the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 to the Select sub-Committee on Social Protection. This is an example of how this House is doing its business in the wrong way. Every Bill should go through its proper Stages as laid out in the White Paper, Regulating Better. Both parties in government agreed with this...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): International Summits (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: That is because of the Government's policies.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (11 Jun 2013)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: 410. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an appeal for carer's allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Longford; when they may expect a decision on their case. [26874/13]