Results 101-120 of 157 for 5 million speaker:Regina Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Expenditure (16 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...year and assume that any increase in duration is implemented from the beginning of the year. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of maternity benefit is approximately €10.3 million for each extra week, at the current rate of €235 per week. It should be noted that Budget 2018 provides for the rate of maternity benefit to be increased by €5 per week...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Paternity Benefit (16 Jan 2018)

Regina Doherty: ...scheme on 1 September 2016, 32,784 paternity benefit claims have been awarded to 31 December 2017. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of paternity benefit is approximately €5.5 million for each extra week. The following table estimates the additional cost of increasing the duration of paternity benefit above its current 2 week duration at the current weekly rate...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (14 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2017 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of €82.8 million on the farm/fish assist scheme. The Programme for Government contained a commitment to undertake a review of “the Fish Assist scheme in recognition of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (14 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting some 35,000 recipients for which the Government has provided €232 million for 2017 (following the completion of the Supplementary Estimates process). A breakdown by county of rent supplements recipients under the scheme in respect of the period from December 2012 to the end of November...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: I am not proposing to accept this amendment. The bereavement grant was an insurance based payment. It was entirely based on the amount of credits that somebody had. It was valued at €850 and was usually paid to the person responsible for payment of funeral expenses. The scheme was abolished in January 2014. In 2013, the value of the scheme amounted to just over €20 million....

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: .... Additional funding is being provided to enable all carers in receipt of carer’s allowance or a half carer's allowance to qualify for a GP visit card. There will also be an additional €10 million in funding to provide respite care for persons with disabilities. That will provide an extra 1,900 bed nights over and above what was agreed in the budget for 2018. The GP visit...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Second Stage (7 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: ..., it might be worthwhile, because the people the Senator is talking about are not small in their numbers. I was not focused enough, or conscious enough of the difference between 19 hours and 15 hours with regard to the family income supplement but that will form part of our review of the working family payments. The whole purpose of the Department is involved here. It is not my money or...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (5 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: .... The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 provided that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the abolition of the SPT available from 65 for those who satisfied the qualifying conditions, thereby standardising State pension age for all at 66 years, which is the current State pension age. This will increase to 67 in 2021 and to 68...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Administration (5 Dec 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...year and assume that any increase in duration is implemented from the beginning of the year. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of maternity benefit is approximately €10.3 million for each extra week, at the current rate of €235 per week. It should be noted that Budget 2018 provides for the rate of maternity benefit to be increased by €5 per week...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: We have not abandoned in any way the people the Deputy is talking about because in last year's budget, more than €5 million went specifically to helping people with burial allowances and funeral costs. The average payment was €3,800 per family who approached us. There is no cap on that. The Department did not have a budget of €5 million and it was not a case of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Live Register Data (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: The official measure of unemployment is sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). The most recent data show that unemployment has fallen from a peak of 15% in 2012 to 6.2% by mid-2017. Numbers at work have increased from 1.836 million in Q2 2012 to 2.063 million in Q2 2017, an increase of 227,000 persons. Within the South East region, which includes Wexford, unemployment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 500 and 522 together. Self-employed workers who earn €5,000 or more in a contribution year, are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4%, subject to a minimum annual payment of €500. This provides them with access to the following benefits: State pension (contributory) and widow’s, widower’s or surviving civil partner’s...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Data (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2017 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of almost €83 million on the farm assist scheme. Budget 2017 fully reversed the previous cuts to the Farm Assist means test. The changes included that 70% of farm income is now be assessed as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pensions (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...2011 provided that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This began in January 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) which was available to people aged 65 who satisfied the qualifying conditions. This measure standardised the State pension age for all at 66 years. This will increase to 67 in 2021 and to 68 in 2028. We are all aware that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Maternity Benefit (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...year and assume that any increase in duration is implemented from the beginning of the year. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of maternity benefit is approximately €10.3 million for each extra week, at the current rate of €235 per week.It should be noted that Budget 2018 provides for the rate of maternity benefit to be increased by €5 per week...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Paternity Benefit (29 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...scheme on 1 September 2016, 28,969 paternity benefit claims have been awarded to 31 October 2017. The estimated additional cost of extending the duration of paternity benefit is approximately €5.5 million for each extra week. The table below estimates the additional cost of increasing the duration of paternity benefit above its current 2 week duration at the current weekly rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance (21 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...be higher for a person with vision impairment than for members of the general population. Overall, it was estimated that the additional cost in 2016 for an individual with vision impairment was €44.54 more than the cost for a single adult in the main MESL (€241. 22). I understand that the authors are conducting further work in this area in relation to the income and other...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (8 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...to be higher for a person with vision impairment than for members of the general population who have full sight. Overall, the additional cost in 2016 for an individual with vision impairment was €44. 54 more than the cost for a single adult in the main MESL (€241. 22). People with vision impairment who require income support can apply to the Department of Employment...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (7 Nov 2017)

Regina Doherty: ...of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2017 Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure of €82.8 million on the farm assist scheme. Budget 2017 introduced measures in relation to the assessment of means for farm assist which reversed all changes introduced in Budgets 2012...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance Fund (18 Oct 2017)

Regina Doherty: The Social Insurance Fund (SIF) was established by the Social Welfare Act 1952 (as amended). The SIF operates under the terms of the Social Welfare (Consolidation Act) 2005. Under section 9 of that Act the SIF comprises a current account managed by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and an investment account managed by the Minister for Finance. The income of the SIF...