Results 1,441-1,460 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: It is imperative that those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic receive practical supports to assist them back to work. My Department is advancing a number of significant recruitment initiatives to meet the critical staffing needs of employers who are delivering essential services to our communities. The Employer Relations Team has responded to the need to fill critical vacancies...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: Dismissal in circumstances where a genuine redundancy situation exists is regarded as one of the fair reasons for dismissal under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2015. However, unfair selection for redundancy is regarded as an unfair dismissal under those Acts. When selecting a particular employee for redundancy, an employer is required to apply selection criteria which are reasonable...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The provisions of Section 12 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 (as amended) provide that an employee who has been temporarily laid-off or kept on short-time for four consecutive weeks, or for a series of six weeks within a thirteen week period of which not more than three are consecutive has an entitlement to claim redundancy from their employer. These provisions were not considered...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: Contactless payment cards are not issued by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection but by financial institutions. Consequently, I am advised that my Department has no information on the number of persons in receipt of a social welfare payment who have access to this type of payment instrument.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The Total Contributions Approach (TCA), when it is introduced, is intended to be a fairer and more transparent system where the person’s lifetime contribution will be more closely reflected in the benefit received. Consultation is a very important part of the development and design of such a new approach. With this in mind, a public consultation on the design of the TCA was...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by my Department that the person concerned is currently in receipt of Farm Assist with means of €115 being applied to the personal rate of €203 per week from 06/05/2020. The means up to 05/05/2020 were assessed as €65 per week, however this increased as a result of a review of the persons entitlement to the payment. The means were calculated based on...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments Administration (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: My Department introduced a series of measures to maintain social welfare payments while assisting with social distancing measures designed to combat the spread of the Coronavirus. Fortnightly payments were introduced to minimise the need for people to attend and queue in banks or post offices to collect payments, so helping people restrict their movements to essential activities only....

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Blind Person's Pension (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: Blind Pension is a means-tested payment for blind and visually impaired people between the ages of 18 and 66 who are habitually resident in Ireland. The payment is made up of a personal rate and extra amounts for a qualified adult and any child dependents. Invalidity Pension is a pension paid to people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness. It is based on a claimant's...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to allow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred on 14 April 2020 to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has also advises me that a decision will issue in respect of this appeal in the coming week. The Social Welfare Appeals Office...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I am advised that as the person concerned was not in employment on or after 6thMarch 2020 and does not meet the criteria for receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. However, the person concerned continues to receive a Jobseekers Allowance payment. It is open to the person concerned may contact their local Community Welfare Officer with a view to making an application for Supplementary...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: Social welfare legislation provides that, for social assistance schemes such as Disability Allowance, income and capital (such as savings, investments and property other than the family home) belonging to the claimant and his or her partner, where applicable, is assessable for means assessment purposes. For Disability Allowance, income from all sources, such as from an occupational pension...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 979, 987, 996, 1000 and 1016 together. The COVID 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment was introduced in March 2020 as a time-limited emergency measure to meet the surge in unemployment which resulted from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. The conditions for receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment are that a person must be of working age between 18...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. The means test for the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme requires that all types of household income, include maintenance payments, must be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: EU social security co-ordination rules are set out in Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the co-ordination of social security systems (and the associated implementing Regulation 987/2009). The Regulations define a frontier worker as meaning “any person pursuing an activity as an employed or self-employed person in a Member...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: No offices have been closed because a customer claiming to have COVID19 has presented in the office. The Department has a specific protocol for cleaning based on Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) guidance. Where a customer or a member of staff presents with symptoms the area in which they spent time, such as a desk, public counter or toilet will be closed off until it can be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 988 and 995 together. The emergency Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment has been introduced as a time-limited emergency measure so that payments can be made as quickly as possible to the large number of people who have become fully unemployed due to the pandemic. During the month of March, my Department received and processed jobseeker claims equivalent in...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The COVID 19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment was introduced in March 2020 as a time-limited emergency measure to meet the surge in unemployment which resulted from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. The issue of social insurance contributions for employees who qualify for receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is currently being considered and any necessary legislation will be...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Legislative Measures (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: A.The Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (Continuation of Part 2) Order 2020 (S.I. No.155 of 2020) provides that the amendments effected by Part 2 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (No. 1 of 2020) will continue until 19th June 2020. In conjunction with the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Allowance (27 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I am advised that application for carer's allowance by the person concerned was disallowed by a Deciding Officer of the Department on 30 April 2019. The person concerned sought a review of the decision on 30 May 2019 and was informed by the Department on 10 September 2019 that the decision was not being revised. He again sought a review on 1 October 2019 and was again informed by the...