Results 341-360 of 7,690 for speaker:Regina Doherty in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The State pension age is currently 66 years of age. In order to provide for sustainable pensions and to facilitate a longer working life, legislation passed in 2011 provides for an increase in the State pension age in three separate stages. This began in January 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) which was available to people aged 65 who satisfied the qualifying...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Payments (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: Carer's benefit (CARB) is a payment made to insured people who leave the workforce to care for a child or an adult in need of full-time care and attention. An increased payment can be made where full-time care is being provided to two people. To qualify the carer must satisfy PRSI conditions, employment conditions, show that they are providing full-time care and attention and must show that...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Insurance (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The estimated impact on the public sector pay bill by the introduction of a 15.75% rate of employer PRSI on portion of salaries over €100,000 is approximately €16 million. This estimate does not take into account any possible changes in employer or employee behaviour arising from changing the rate of employer PRSI contribution. Nor does it take into consideration any of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 10 December 2019. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The existing suite of employment rights legislation continues to apply throughout the period affected by the Covid pandemic. The full range of employment rights protections contained in, inter alia,the Payment of Wages Act 1991, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, and the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2014 remain applicable. Employees and employers, most of whom have now been...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Widow's Pension Eligibility (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The person concerned claim to a widows pension has again been reviewed by a Deciding Officer, and the original decision remains the same. A widows, widower's or surviving civil partnership pension can be based on either the social insurance record of either the claimant or the deceased spouse. In order to qualify, if a spouse or civil partner died before 27 December 2013, whichever...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1162, 1168 and 1169 together. My Department provides a range of grants and supports to assist both jobseekers with disabilities and employers to take appropriate measures to enable either a potential employee or existing employee with disabilities to obtain or retain employment. These include the Reasonable Accommodation Fund (RAF) which encompasses the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1163 and 1170 to 1172, inclusive, together. My Department reviews both its schemes and services regularly, and in doing so consults widely with the disability sector. Consultation is undertaken through the following framework: 1. The Department's Disability Consultative Forum (DCF) which enables a two-way dialogue on theDepartments schemes and services, as...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Support Services (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: As part of Budget measures 2019, it was announced that my Department would commission research into the cost of disability. This is the first step in reaching an in-depth understanding of this complex issue. Indecon International Consultants have been commissioned to carry out the research and are expected to submit a final report later this year. Their work programme to date has included...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Eligibility (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by over 80 private transport operators. There are currently approx. 970,000...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Blind Person's Pension Payments (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The blind pension is a means-tested payment paid to blind and visually impaired people who are habitually resident in Ireland. A person who is in receipt of a blind pension may also qualify for other secondary benefits such as the fuel allowance, living alone increase and the household benefits package (HHB). Payment of these secondary benefits is directly linked to the payment of the...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Blind Welfare Allowance (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: In Budget 2020, I introduced a measure to totally disregard all income received by recipients of blind welfare allowance in the assessment of means for social assistance payments. Blind welfare allowance is a means tested Health Service Executive supplementary payment which is paid to eligible persons who are blind or visually impaired. The maximum rate payable is €60 per week for an...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Payments (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: My Department is taking all necessary measures, in line with the advice of the Department of Health, HSE and Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), to respond to the significant challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to comply with social distancing requirements, the Department has introduced fortnightly payments instead of weekly. The purpose of this change is to...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: School Meals Programme (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1174 and 1175 together. The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food to some 1,580 schools and organisations benefitting 250,000 children. The objective of the scheme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children who are unable, due to lack of good quality food, take full advantage of the education provided to them. The...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Supplement Scheme (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The original purpose of the mortgage interest supplement scheme (MIS) was to provide short-term support to eligible people who were unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence due to temporary unemployment of loss of earnings. The mortgage interest supplement scheme was discontinued to new entrants from 1st January 2014,...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: Child benefit is a monthly payment made to families with children in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children until their 18th birthday who are in full-time education, or who have a disability. Child benefit is currently paid, as of end-December 2019, to over 637,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Expenditure (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The estimated cost of increasing the age limit of the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) and jobseeker's transition payment (JST) rate to €245 would be very difficult to estimate with any great accuracy. At the end of January there were 39,533 OFP and 15,234 JST recipients. As these are means tested schemes, many customers in receipt of these payments are working or have alternative...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Expenditure (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: I am advised that the estimated cost of increasing the age limit of the One-Parent Family Payment (OFP) to 14 and the earnings disregard to €175 would be very difficult to estimate with any great accuracy. There are a number of significant barriers to undertaking such an exercise. Firstly, an increase in the age limits could result in a cohort of lone parents that are currently...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The estimated full year cost of increasing the rate of Disability Allowance by €62, from €203 to €265 per week, is €505.7 million. This cost is based on the estimated number of recipients in 2020 and is subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of these estimates. This cost includes proportionate increases for qualified adults.

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Expenditure (13 May 2020)

Regina Doherty: The estimated full year cost of increasing the rate of carer's allowance for those aged under 66 and increasing the rate of carer's benefit is €113.5m. As the rate of carer's allowance paid to those aged 66 and over is currently €257, no additional costs arise. These costings are subject to change in the context of emerging trends and associated revision of the estimated...