Results 141-160 of 2,060 for speaker:Joe O'Brien

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: Qualification for the contributory State pension is based on a number of criteria, including a minimum of 520 qualifying social insurance contributions having been paid. As the actuarial value of the State pension is currently estimated at approximately €380,000, it is reasonable to require people claiming a contributory pension to have made at least ten years of paid contributions...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Deputy is referring to the broader challenges of the ageing population in the years ahead. I may touch on that context in some of the proposals in the reform of the pension system. These include flexibility of the age of draw-down, which will be introduced from January. A person with less than 40 years of contributions may be able to use the period between the ages of 66 and 70 years...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I will take Deputy Ó Cuív's query on board. I am not sure it is doable. From queries I have received, for some people aged 66 who are working and have got the contributory pension, it is a disincentive because they are paying more tax, whereas this measure will help them. It is not quite what the Deputy mentioned but it is related. On Deputy Durkan's point, there will be a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I thank the Deputy for highlighting the issues and challenges that one-parent families face. I will give a broader picture of what we have been doing to date. In 2023, the employer relations division delivered 1,387 employment engagement activities, and almost 2,000 activities to support recruitment. Included in this were 610 events such as career fairs, employer roadshows, recruitment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Deputy has mentioned a very specific sector there and I know Intreo services do look at skills shortages, try to match people with them and work with industry as well. We will take that point back to see if that is not already in the mix with regard to what Intreo is doing. Figures provided by the CSO find that the employment rate for lone parents has increased from 64.8% in quarter...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I do not have this.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I am sorry.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: This Government acknowledges the important role that carers play and is fully committed to supporting them in that role. Accordingly, the current State contributory pension system provides measures including PRSI credits, home-making disregards and the home caring periods to recognise caring periods of up to 20 years outside of paid employment in the calculation of a payment rate. Last...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The short answer to the Deputy's first question is that I understand that is the case. I will read out some detail on that with regard to the evidence that people can provide to prove those 20 years. If a customer was in receipt of carer's allowance, carer's benefit, the carer's support grant or the domiciliary care allowance, he or she will have met the qualifying conditions for the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The last impression I want to give is that we are brushing this disease under the carpet. Long Covid is very real. I know a number of people who still have it. There has been a significant response to the reality of long Covid from the Department of Health with the opening of a number of clinics and the expansion of clinics across the country to help people deal with it and to find...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I again acknowledge the important role RSS and Tús supervisors play in supporting the delivery of key services to local communities across the country and in providing valuable opportunities to participants. I assure the Deputy that my Department is very conscious of the vital role of supervisors within these work programmes. While RSS and Tús supervisors are employees of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I am loathe to get into figures, numbers and the details of negotiations. It would not be helpful to anyone. We are talking. We recognise there is an issue. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I have proven in the past couple of years that CE, Tús and RSS supervisors have legitimate arguments to make on pay rates and the gratuity issue, which has been resolved. I do not want to be...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I know there was a meeting scheduled with officials for last month. There was a genuine reason that did not happen. There was no policy decision not to meet them or to wait and hold off. That was not the case. I think and hope, but do not want to guarantee here on the floor, that the meeting will be rescheduled for some time before Christmas. It depends on people’s availability....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: In addition to income supports, my Department provides a wide range of employment supports and services designed to assist lone parents to enter or return to employment. Both the one-parent family payment and the jobseeker’s transitional payment have been designed to support persons to pursue their individual employment goals. These schemes include an earnings disregard whereby the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Deputy is right that the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform has a key role in this. The Deputy provided some detail. I am not sure some of it is correct in terms of what has been agreed. There is a willingness on our side to discuss the issue. I do not want to get into negotiations on the floor of the House on what is doable or not. We had...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Community Employment Schemes (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I have done specific work to ensure community employment supervisors got their pension and gratuity over the last couple of years and, in particular, on the 5% across-the-board pay increases for CE, Tús and RSS supervisors. We now have this additional ask. While it is not without merit, we have to look at it carefully. We are amenable to discussing and talking. The Deputy asked a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Government acted early and without hesitation to support all workers who contracted Covid-19 during the pandemic. Workers could avail of an enhanced illness benefit payment and eligibility criteria were set to include the largest cohort of workers possible, including the self-employed. The scheme paid some 578,000 claims at a cost of over €350 million. A temporary scheme of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I cannot comment on the Department of Health scheme that covers healthcare workers, as I do not know the ins and outs of it. However, we all agree that healthcare workers faced specific dangers and vulnerabilities that were different from those faced by many other workers who, we suspect, contracted Covid mainly through community transmission. Covid, as the World Health Organization has...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, recently secured the approval of the Government to proceed with design proposals for a new pay-related benefit for jobseekers. This represents a fundamental reform of the social welfare system and will ensure that people with long work histories will receive enhanced benefits if they lose their employment. The pay-related benefit will be available to newly...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (7 Dec 2023)

Joe O'Brien: I disagree with the Deputy's assertion. I will make two key points regarding the caps and the new benefits. Earnings are subject to a maximum of €450 for the first three months, the rate will reduce to 55%, subject to a maximum of €375, for the following three months, and a further three months will be paid at a rate of 50% to a maximum of €300. Those caps will ensure...