Results 1,921-1,940 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I was going to finish by saying that it is nice to know that the decisions we make collectively in this House to spend taxpayers' money on helping some of the most vulnerable people in our society are working.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: The Deputy obviously did not pay any attention to the CSO SILC reports released last week, perhaps because he does not like the direction that things are taking. He would be much happier if we had people who were genuinely living in persistent poverty, similar to what is happening in Northern Ireland. The SILC numbers show a reduction to 5.6% last week. I restate my thanks to the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I hope people are already seeing the benefit. For argument's sake, we have a target processing time for carer's allowance of 12 weeks and our current turnaround time is ten weeks. For disability allowance, we have a processing time of 12 weeks and our current turnaround time is ten weeks. We have a processing time of 12 weeks for domiciliary care allowance and our current turnaround time...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Allowance Applications Waiting Times (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: Individual cases will obviously vary based on the information that individuals provide. All I can do, when I report the numbers, is report the average time. It bothers me to learn from Deputy Collins that average waiting times appear to be increasing because the statistics indicate that the additional resources we have put into the carer's section are yielding results. Not long ago, I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Allowance Applications Waiting Times (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I would appreciate that.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputy for allowing me to put this on the record of the House. Our roadmap for social inclusion is far more than just another report. The use of that term says a lot about the Deputy's opinion. I intend to bring the social inclusion strategy to Cabinet for review at the earliest opportunity. I received a draft of our new social inclusion strategy only last week. It will have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Social Scheme Eligibility (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I might not be able to answer all the Deputy's questions but as of 29 November there were 3,231 participants and 138 supervisors in the RSS. The funding allocated to the scheme for this year is €53.11 million. The Deputy is correct that it was established as an income support scheme, but the way the scheme has developed with the involvement of training and the fact that people can...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Social Scheme Eligibility (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: When I made the increase in the 2018 budget, it capped the number of places at 3,350. As I said, the current number of participants is 3,231. This is one of our most successful schemes. Far from being patronising, with respect, I am trying to tell the Deputy that some of these people are the highest skilled workers in our community. However, they are only farming or fishing part-time, so...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I am happy to reaffirm that in budget 2020 my Department has been allocated €21.2 billion, an increase of 3.4% on 2019.  This allocation ensures that the Department can continue to protect our customers and make improvements to the schemes and services in the coming year.  Among the priorities that I set out in the budget is a continued commitment to provide timely access to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I will give a couple of examples. It worries me that the Deputy has included jobseeker's benefit in the list of long waits because the waiting time should be less than a week. At most, it should be two weeks for jobseeker's allowance if a means test needs to be done. There is no delay in processing jobseeker's benefit claims. If Deputy Moynihan is aware of any delays, I ask him to send...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Fraud (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: We have a target of 12 but have not yet reached that full quota because it is a specialised unit. We have invited people from around the country who were inspectors to join it before, possibly, we hand pick people. We are approximately three quarters of the way there. The training for the people who have already joined the unit has been finalised so the actual targeted examination of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Fraud (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I thank the Deputy for the compliment. I agree with him so I thank him. I know that this is a new unit that has only been established for a couple of months but it might be helpful if at the end of every year, we issue a report on the investigations. We might not name the employers but we could set out whether investigations have been positive or negative so that we can get a feel...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rural Social Scheme Eligibility (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: The rural social scheme, RSS, is an income support initiative to provide part-time employment opportunities in the community and voluntary organisations for farmers or fishermen in receipt of certain social welfare payments who are underemployed in their primary occupation. Communities benefit enormously from the skills and talents of local farmers and fishermen and the participants have the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: There is no stock response here. I have engaged in a process with the union since May. We agreed that we would keep our deliberations confidential and I am not in the habit of breaking an agreement that I have made with anybody. I am not sure what the Deputy means by "stock response". There are several Deputies, and Deputy Heydon happens probably to be in the top three, who contact me...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: With respect to both Deputies I am aware of the WRC ruling in October. I am also aware that we were not there to defend ourselves against that ruling which is why an appeal will be taken. In case neither Deputy is aware, there have been two other cases taken by CE supervisors to the Labour Court and both have fallen because it found that we are not the CE supervisors’ employer. I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Fraud (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: I hope I am on the record stating my determination to tackle false self-employment. We have reallocated some significant resources, particularly this year in the Department to do so. Since I became Minister, the Department's social welfare inspectors have been instructed to redouble their efforts with a nationwide campaign of employer inspections. That happens through our scope section...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: Without trying to be rude, I was not really sure what the Deputy meant by "unrolling". If it is what I think she means, as in whether we have rowed back on the public services card, then we have not. If that is what the Deputy means, then the answer to the question of the cost of unrolling the PSC is that there has not been any cost because we have not unrolled it, as it were.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: That is no problem. I was not sure. I thank the Deputy for clarifying that. We have not unrolled it. We continue to roll out the PSC through the standard authentication framework environment, SAFE, registration process. Although we have major efficiencies in the Department, we also have reduced payment leakage. The total costs for the project since its inception in mid-November 2019 are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: It is not mandatory, as I said in response to an earlier questioner on the roll-out of decisions relating to the PSC outside of my Department. How other Ministers employ and use the PSC is a matter for them. As far as I am aware, there is a paper application process as well as the online application process for the national child care scheme.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Services Card (4 Dec 2019)

Regina Doherty: First, I dispute the ICCL statement that Deputy Smith has just repeated. I assume what Deputy Smith said is what the council said because I have not heard that from the council. A total of 3.2 million people in Ireland from a population of 4.5 million have a PSC. For us to target the most vulnerable by making them get a PSC really stretches the imagination to its limits. A total of...