Results 1,561-1,580 of 12,619 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: 12. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of her planned engagement with community employment, CE, supervisors; the proposals she plans to bring forward to address their entitlement to occupational pensions; if there is a timeline in place for the discussions to be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22987/19]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: For the benefit of the House, I indicate that I was approached by a person on behalf of CE scheme supervisors and have been informed that negotiations are in train. That person did not want me to rock the boat, as it were, by pursuing this matter too assiduously. I will bow to that request but I ask the Minister to provide an indication of where matters stand.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: I accept what the Minister says and will leave it at that. I wish to ask an ancillary question. One of my colleagues reminded me that he asked the Minister some time ago if the Department would review the Tús scheme in order that people could remain on it while still engaging with JobPath. The Minister indicated at the time that she would look at that issue and come-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: I am referring to a recent proposal that Tús scheme participants would be able to continue to engage with JobPath. Is that the actual position?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: 3. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if consideration will be given to changing the rules for carer's allowance to increase the hours a person is entitled to work from the current level of 15 hours to 18.5 hours; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22983/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: There are approximately 375,000 carers in the country and only one in five of them qualify for carer's allowance. All the studies show that the number of carers is going to grow. This question relates to a proposal from Family Carers Ireland to assist carers to make ends meet by slightly relaxing the rules for qualification for carer's allowance.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: The rate of carer's allowance for a single person is approximately €16 per week above what the person would get if he or she was in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. I accept one should add the carer's support grant as well, but it is poor recompense for what is often a 24/7 job. Many carers have approached me, presumably with the consent of the people for whom they are caring, and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: If somebody can care for a person full-time and work for 15 hours per week, there are many instances where somebody could care for a person full-time and work up to 18.5 hours per week. I have two brief supplementary questions. Does the Minister have plans to review the Carer's Leave Act 2001 with a view to introducing more flexible working hours? Second, when the national carers'...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions Reform (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: I acknowledge that the reviews are proceeding apace. On 4 April last, I tabled a question to the Minister for written reply. At that stage, just 13,000 cases had been reviewed and 75% of reviews had resulted in increased pension payments. It appears now that slightly fewer than half of the reviews conducted to date have resulted in increased pension payments. Given that this system was...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions Reform (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: Of course, the Minister is right when she says we did not oppose the legislation. We accepted it on the basis that half a loaf is better than no bread. It was not an ideal solution from our perspective. I proposed a simple reversal of the 2012 changes. When we are getting something, we do not look a gift horse in the mouth. The Government had two options - to reverse the 2012 changes, or...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions Reform (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: It is gradually declining.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions Reform (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: 1. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the 2012 pension review; the number of persons who have had their pension entitlements reviewed to date; the number of persons awaiting a review; the number of persons issued with a high rate of pension; the number of persons whose pension has remained unchanged; and if she will make a statement on the matter....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Pensions Reform (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: I tabled this question to receive an update on the situation for post-2012 pensioners. I understand the reviews are proceeding quickly. I record my appreciation for the staff and the hard work they are doing and the courtesy and accessibility they afford to me, at least, whenever I have occasion to contact them.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pensions Reform (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: 17. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of her plans to introduce an auto-enrolment pension system; the progress made to date in this regard, in particular, changes she is considering to the Strawman proposal and the proposed date for introduction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22986/19]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Departmental Programmes (30 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: 18. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason the new national action plan for social inclusion has not been published; the definitive date for its publication; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22985/19]

Housing (Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: Vótáil.

Housing (Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: I thank everybody who contributed to the debate. I thank the Opposition and non-Government Deputies who have expressed their support for the legislation. A number of points were made by various Members which I wish to address briefly. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, Deputy Munster and others made the point that many of the delays are due to funding. In my opening statement, I outlined that...

Housing (Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I wish to share my time with Deputy O'Rourke, who is co-sponsor of this Bill, and with Deputy Murphy O'Mahony. All parties and Members of this House, regardless of ideology, are wedded to the notion that the best place for an elderly family relative or a relative who is sick, infirm or unable to look after himself or herself is in the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (29 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: In view of the number of statements being made in the past 48 hours by a number of Government spokespersons, including the Minister responsible for business yesterday, that the Government has in mind a number of specific measures to deal with the outrageous cost of insurance, I do not see anything in this regard in the programme for Government or legislative programme. Can the Minister...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Childcare Services Regulation (29 May 2019)

Willie O'Dea: 142. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the new regulations under the Childcare Support Act 2018 have forced crèches to reduce the number of places they are offering which will leave many children without childcare; her plans to accommodate those children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22946/19]