Results 11,641-11,660 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy made a point about the pandemic unemployment payment being dependent on the level of earnings that recipients were paid previously and making a percentage of those earnings available to them. It is something that, during normal times, if we had not been dealing with a pandemic payment, there might well have been an opportunity to do. We will need to consider for the future...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Any decision we make on the continuation or structure of that payment in the future will be anchored in our understanding of the contribution those people are making to our society and the way in which the jobs they were doing stopped being available to them because of the impact of this pandemic on our economy. That happened at great speed and in a way nobody could have foreseen. That is...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: No decision we make-----

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: -----will be based on anything other than the recognition we have of the contribution-----

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: -----those who were on low incomes are making to our society and economy.

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: For the Deputy to suggest anything other than that is wrong.

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will find out the answer to that question for the Deputy and will confirm it to him. The reason these payments are made available at the level they are in the first place is the support and understanding that I and this Government have for the contribution those citizens are making to our society. That is why they were brought in and, as I have said before, we are simply looking to find a...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I cannot tell the Deputy now because I am not the Minister for Justice and Equality or the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. It is a matter I am glad we were able to handle during the period of Covid. I will ask the respective Ministers what their plans are for dealing with those as we move through this phase of Covid.

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: There is no suggestion from me or from the Government that anybody who is on the pandemic payment is in any way living it up. Any comment made by anybody-----

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Believe me Deputy, I as much as anybody understand the contribution that people who are on low income make to our society.

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: It was because of my recognition of that issue, as well as the Taoiseach's, that we brought in the pandemic unemployment payment and the decision was taken to increase it to €350.

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Cairns raised the issue of domestic violence. I am absolutely aware of the great importance of the issue and I know that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, has treated the matter very seriously during this Covid-19 period. He has done all he can to ensure that those at risk or those who become victims of that awful crime are given as much support as possible....

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: It sounds as though the Minister, Regina Doherty, has responded to the Deputy on the issue that was raised by the Irish Cancer Society. It is a policy decision for her to take in respect of the matter but I will follow up on it with her. On the future of the wage subsidy scheme, the kind of issue the Deputy raised is exactly what I am considering at the moment. I take his point that...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not believe I have yet received the correspondence but I have seen it on social media. I am receiving a gigantic volume of correspondence from every part of our society and economy, making legitimate cases for their support both now and into the future. I am trying to consider all these issues in the round.

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Sherlock has raised a very important matter. I will come back to him on that issue in writing. The Government acted to ensure the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme would include a bridging recognition of people's social insurance contributions in this period. We wanted to ensure that workers' time on the scheme was not treated differently where their social insurance...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will know, jobseeker's payments are subject to tax. However, recipients of jobseeker's payments might not pay tax on them due to their income level. Because the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment is a form of income, it is being treated in the same way as jobseeker's payments. As such it is subject to taxation. As is the case with jobseeker's payments, the amount of tax...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his questions. First, I will say a word about the proposals brought forward by the European Union yesterday. I think they are really important. They build on the work that was done by finance Ministers of the European Union and also the initiative that was launched by France and Germany last week. In addition to the reasons the Deputy touched upon regarding the...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will come back to the question on Debenhams if Deputy Sherlock and others raise it.

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The issue of those who are working in the Gaeltacht and what has happened to them, because students will not be able to spend any time with them this summer, has been raised with me by the Minister of State, Senator Seán Kyne. I have visited the Gaeltacht and seen at first hand how important school programmes are for the Gaeltacht and employment in those communities and how central they...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 - Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) (28 May 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising those different questions. Regarding the future of the wage subsidy scheme and the pandemic unemployment payment, it is precisely because of my recognition of the challenges to which Deputy Doherty refers and the number of citizens who are facing those challenges that I played a role in introducing these schemes. I played a role in increasing the value of the...