Results 1,301-1,320 of 4,782 for speaker:Olwyn Enright
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I am not encouraging the Minister to do that.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Question 3: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the support, in the context of the 8% reduction in the payment of rent supplement, she will offer claimants in negotiating rent reductions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17301/09]
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I agree that significant savings can be made in the area of rent supplement and that there should be a reduction in what landlords receive. However, I have a difficulty with the manner in which the Minister is approaching this. She is, in effect, asking 85,000 households to negotiate directly with their landlords. Some will have the ability to do this, but others will not. The Minister...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The difference is that people in receipt of RAS and people in local authority accommodation can work as much as they want. People on rent supplement cannot do that. The Minister is not making a fair argument because people do not have that opportunity if on rent supplement. In the majority of cases, she is taking that money directly out of the social welfare payment. Why did the Minister...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: It told us at a committee meeting a few weeks ago it does not do that.
- Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: Question 4: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the remit of the 60 facilitators employed by her; the social welfare recipients they are currently dealing with; the average caseload of each facilitator; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17302/09]
- Departmental Staff. (30 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I am glad that every time I ask this question, the number of facilitators goes up by ten. There is some progress. If facilitators are to work, they must have time to spend with people. Sadly, they must deal with an ever-increasing group of people who have varied needs from lone parents to people with disabilities to people who are unemployed. When the Minister launched something for one...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I have concerns regarding sections 5 and 6 and the alternatives available for young people. I have tabled amendments related to section 6 and I will speak on the matter in more detail at that stage.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: We have a good deal to discuss.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I welcome the Minister's amendment which is important. I asked during the briefing this morning whether the Roman numerals I-III in question cover all categories and the officials were very confident of this. The only difficulty I have is that I am somewhat concerned, knowing as I do how the care system operates, about people who should be in care who never got into it. Again, it is a...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I move amendment No. 9: In page 6, after line 52, to insert the following new subsection: "(5) The Minister shall, prior to the commencement of this section, publish the types of courses that shall apply under this section, the availability of those courses and the arrangements that have been made to ensure sufficient provision of public transport to such courses.". When I spoke on Second...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The facilitators I am talking about are the people in the Minister's Department who can give the "ay or nay" to the officials in particular cases.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The Minister said in July it would be done.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: From the manner in which the Minister puts things, she seems to work from the assumption there is a cohort of young people who are dying to be on jobseeker's allowance rather than wanting to work. I accept there is a plethora of organisations and I believe that is the very reason some young people find it so difficult to access services, given the confusion that exists. Facilitators work...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The Minister came in here on another day and told the House it was not her responsibility.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The Minister did not adopt that attitude with the CWOs.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: It does matter because there is an issue of responsibility. My concern is people will be told to go on courses for the sake of it or they will be told this is the only course available in Tullamore so they had better do it or they will not get the payment. That is the reality of how the system could operate if this is not done properly. That is why there must be accountability. It really...
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The Minister is taking the payment from them.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: The Minister has not shown us how any of that works.
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Committee Stage (28 Apr 2009)
Olwyn Enright: I said what I wanted to say on this section. I tabled amendments on the rent supplement, the early child care supplement, profiling and the information claimants must provide. We did not even get to vote on amendments on the enhanced levy or on any of the amendments on pensions. I reiterate that it is a really shoddy way to bring forward such important legislation about which there is an...