Results 1,641-1,660 of 2,335 for speaker:Joe O'Brien

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Social Welfare Benefits (14 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I understand the frustrations and difficulties of anyone who suffers increased travel costs because of a disability. I understand the situation personally because my father faced this issue in that any time he had an epileptic episode he was off the road for 12 months. Any extensions to the eligibility criteria to the free travel scheme can only be considered while taking account of the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Social Welfare Benefits (14 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I thank Senator Maria Byrne for raising this matter. The telephone support allowance, TSA, which was announced in budget 2018 is a weekly payment of €2.50 equating to €130 per year. Approximately 136,000 customers are currently in receipt of the TSA payment. The estimated full-year cost of the scheme is more than €18 million. The primary objective of the TSA is to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Social Welfare Benefits (14 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I thank Senator Byrne. I accept that the situation is as she describes but would reiterate that the primary objective of the TSA is to support vulnerable people most at risk of social isolation, including the elderly and those with disabilities, by providing them with access to personal alarms or phones for security. Therefore, the criteria for the allowance are framed in order to direct...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Joint Labour Committees (2 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: 58. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the proposed establishment of a joint labour committee for the early learning and care and school age childcare sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29953/21]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Climate Change Policy (2 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: 83. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of plans to roll-out truck‐suitable hydrogen refuelling stations in Ireland as part of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29951/21]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Climate Change Policy (2 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: 84. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to support hauliers in Ireland to transition to hydrogen fuel cell trucks including provision of necessary infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29952/21]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Voluntary Sector (2 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: Following the launch of the first National Volunteering Strategy 2021-2025 in December last, my Department established an Implementation Group to oversee the delivery of the 56 actions outlined in the Strategy. Chaired by the Department of Rural and Community Development, the membership of the Implementation Group is as follows: Government Departments -...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (2 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 219 and 220 together. The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme(SICAP) 2018 – 2022 aims to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion and equality by supporting disadvantaged communities and individuals. SICAP has 2 programme goals. Goal oneis supporting communities, which involves supporting local community groups representing...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Orchestras (1 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: 288. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the planned transition of the National Symphony Orchestra to the National Concert Hall; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29143/21]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (1 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: 389. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if efforts will be made to ensure inclusivity and visibility of breastfeeding families in school textbooks and curricula; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29124/21]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes (1 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis. At the onset of the Covid-19 emergency last year my Department introduced a number of contingency measures to support CE schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (1 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 420 community organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. The CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution of €19,033 for each fulltime equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, provides €32,000 towards the cost of employing a manager. Qualifying organisations...

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Programmes (1 Jun 2021)

Joe O'Brien: The Social Inclusion Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2018-2022 is the government’s primary social inclusion intervention. The current programme commenced on 1stJanuary 2018 and is due to run to 31st December 2022.  In advance of the commencement of the programme, legal advice in relation to procurement was sought by my Department.  Based on the advice received, it was...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Appeals (27 May 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection, and of the Department, and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. The Department of Social Protection processes around 2 million new claims each year. Approximately 85% of these are...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Appeals (27 May 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I am acutely aware that the time taken in processing appeals is hugely important to the people who submit an appeal, and that it directly impacts on their lives. It is a very important point to note that those who apply for formal payments, like carer’s allowance or jobseeker’s allowance, can apply for a supplementary welfare allowance from the community welfare officer while...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (27 May 2021)

Joe O'Brien: 127. To ask the Minister for Finance if consideration will be given to permitting self-employed persons who have been out of work during the pandemic to warehouse their tax liability for 2020 for a period of time until their finances have recovered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28815/21]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Programmes (27 May 2021)

Joe O'Brien: My Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 420 community organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. The CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution of €19,033 for each fulltime equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, provides €32,000 towards the cost of employing a manager. Qualifying organisations...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Development Projects (25 May 2021)

Joe O'Brien: Deputy Richmond touched on a fair point. We use many acronyms such as LCDCs, local development companies and PPNs. It is important for local communities to recognise them. I draw attention to a piece of work we are doing at the moment, with the public participation networks. There are 15,000 community group members of public participation networks, PPNs, throughout the country. We are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 May 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I will provide more detail on the training side of things as the Deputy brought it up. We have prioritised training in this year's action plan, which comes under the community and voluntary sector five-year strategy. The cross-sectoral group has prioritised training. There are three aspects to that. First, the process is ongoing and there will be a report on the training needs of local...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Programmes (25 May 2021)

Joe O'Brien: I thank the Deputy. We are in the process of scoping out where multi-annual funding might begin to grow. As part of the process, we have to pin down exactly what we are funding and what Departments are funding organisations. We do not fund all community and voluntary organisations, of which a large number - 11,000 - are registered with the Charities Regulator. To give the Deputy a...