Results 1,181-1,200 of 6,185 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Minister. There are acceptance issues concerning the justice recommendations in respect of the agency, but that is outside the Minister's remit. I welcome that the Department has accepted the recommendations concerning the social protection system. The Minister has stated – it is my understanding also – that she is not including child maintenance in the means test...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 105. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the proposed legislation on child maintenance system changes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33415/23]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Code (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I wish to ask the Minister for Social Protection about the recommendations from the child maintenance review group. This is an area that has long been in urgent need of reform. The challenges that lone parents face, the fact they have to fight this battle on their own, very often, and the fact that their income from maintenance has been taken into account for means has created a lot of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 103. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on the consultation process as part of her Department’s work on addressing the cost of disability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33414/23]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The issue of the cost of disability is much discussed at present. It is a concept that is being increasingly developed. In March, the Minister, in response to a parliamentary question, stated the work on the straw man was at an advanced stage and widescale public consultation was planned. In May, the situation was similar. Where are things at in this regard? How does the Minister intend...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Minister. She provided a bit more insight there. Perhaps she can provide more as we proceed. There is no doubt but that the challenges faced by people with disabilities are enormous. The survey on income and living conditions includes a category of people who are unable to work due to long-standing health problems. This cohort substantially consists of disabled people. One...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I take the Minister's point in general and philosophical terms regarding targeted compared with universal supports but very few people on disability payments are on very high incomes. Given the current thresholds for the disability allowance, there are many people on modest incomes who benefit little or not at all. That needs to be examined separate from the cost of disability piece. I am...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Measures (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 158. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide an update on a State pension solution for long-term family carers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33194/23]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 131. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department will ensure that households that have accumulated significant debts, including arrears on bills and on prepayment meters, have access to sufficient support to avoid a long-term legacy of indebtedness and reduced financial resilience; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33193/23]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 134. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will advise on her Department's review of means testing for carer’s allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33196/23]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (6 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 167. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the tender for EmployAbility which was due to be published in April 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33195/23]

Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Second Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: In 2018, people voted for women to have access to services. Five years on, and these services are still not in place and the protections that they ought to have are still not in place. I support this legislation and I commend the work of my colleague, Senator Gavan, in particular, who worked hard to put this in place and brought forward the legislation in the Seanad. This legislation is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of the Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2023: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: This is sensible legislation. From the experience of Covid, many things that were done in person can now be done online. We have speeded many things up. There was a point about the 19th century. I recall speaking to somebody who was waiting anxiously for the letter and cheque from the President for their mother's 100th birthday, because that woman's father had not come down from the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of the Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2023: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: As a supplementary to that, subsequent to this being enacted, what would be the definition of a marriage of convenience?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of the Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Bill 2023: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Is it literally the traditional case of whether they are blood relations, if people are married to somebody else, and those kinds of impediments?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Public Service Performance Report 2022: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Department. It is fair to say the Department is not, by and large, one of the public bodies that has very significant problems with processing times, at least at present. There are some issues. I submitted a parliamentary question relatively recently on waiting times and it seems that of the centrally-processed schemes, the big outlier is probably disability allowance, for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Public Service Performance Report 2022: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: How it is categorised is grand but the issue still arises that there seem to be delays. Is there a plan to try to reduce that? Is some of that caused by the fact the workload of the HEOs is heavier than it used to be and executive officers now have to handle a bit more work than they used to?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Public Service Performance Report 2022: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: It has been processed. I was just giving it as an example.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Public Service Performance Report 2022: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I have one more question. Subsequent to a decision being arrived at, the claimant is entitled to seek a review. This is not widely enough known. I think more people should avail of it prior to going to the social welfare appeals office to pick up clerical errors and all that kind of stuff. Are there processing times for the reviews? I know there are probably not as many of them. Do we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Public Service Performance Report 2022: Department of Social Protection (5 Jul 2023)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I have nothing to suggest the contrary; I am just curious.