Results 1,281-1,300 of 4,782 for speaker:Olwyn Enright
- Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Yes.
- Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Not necessarily - not if the system is changed.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Further improvement needs to be introduced immediately. What has happened so far is not working. I have already cited the example of Boyle. The five towns with the longest waiting periods, Edenderry, Navan and Tuam, at 15 weeks and the other two at 13 weeks, have been at the top of the list for at least the past six months. I know Edenderry particularly well. There has been no dramatic...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: What do I tell the people in Edenderry?
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: While I appreciate that some changes have been made, I do not hear a sense of urgency in the Minister's responses. I accept that there is a problem in the 14 branch offices that we have highlighted here but there is a problem in other areas too. What will the Minister do about the fact that when people are out sick or on maternity leave, the system seems to break down in those offices...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: They will all have to be trained.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Then the Department needs a backup system.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: It is not working.
- Social Welfare Payments. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I tabled this question because I have been contacted by a number of people about queues they have experienced in post offices. I appreciate that part of this matter is the responsibility of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan. The biggest concern is about unemployment payments on the first day they are delivered. I accept that people can collect...
- Social Welfare Payments. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I will not but I could not believe how much was going in compared to the population. That postmaster said there is a real risk for them. They are in a rural area and there is no full-time Garda station, yet this massive amount of money is being deposited there. If the payments could be ordered twice a week it would make it somewhat safer for small post offices. It is not the Minister's...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: It is not correct that the rent limits have been reviewed. The Minister took a blanket decision to reduce them and require tenants to pay more rent. If she had reviewed the limits, she would have made a fair decision based on the rent payable in each area. Take-up of the rental accommodation scheme is only half of what was envisaged when the scheme was announced. Despite the brouhaha...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: People are dying to get an offer under the scheme.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The Minister should be trying to persuade landlords to enter the rental accommodation scheme. I thank her for clarifying the position on whether landlords are paying tax on income from the rent supplement scheme. I ask her to raise this matter with the Minister for Finance because it is not acceptable for her to inform Deputies repeatedly during Question Time that the issue of taxation is a...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Did the Minister speak to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan about it?
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: What percentage of the rent supplements are paid to landlords who are registered with the PRTB? Will the Minister make any changes to ensure the payment of the supplement is linked to the standard of the accommodation? It would be one way of sorting out the situation, particularly the very poor standard of bedsits. I understand some 172 were found in the last report not to meet the minimum...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: What about standards?
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: There is no link with rent supplement payments and standards. That is where the Minister has power to do something about it.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Question 1: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs her plans to alter eligibility for child benefit; if it is intended to tax or means test the payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17300/09]
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I thank the Minister for her reply. I suppose it summarises the thoughts of Government but not the consequences of what it intends to do. I shall put to the Minister an example I received today from a constituent. Her family has lost â¬8,000 in real terms annually because of the public service levies. She has four children aged under five and has lost an additional â¬4,000 through the...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I asked the Minister to be cognisant of this but she gave the example herself so she is aware of the situation. That makes me wonder why this is being driven so hard. If everyone in the House were to add them up we would have thousands of examples of people who are better off remaining on social welfare. I have a real concern that if we go down the road proposed by the Government in...