Written Answers Nos. 164-177
» ...
»
Written Answers Nos. 164-177
164. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, the number of times a draft motion on setting up a commission of inquiry has been circulated to a legal firm prior to or after the Government agreeing same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6630/15]
View answer165. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the number of times a draft motion on setting up a commission of inquiry has been requested by legal firms to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6631/15]
View answer166. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the protocol in place in his Department to deal with requests from legal firms for draft motions on setting up commissions of inquiry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6632/15]
View answer167. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the number of requests he has received directly from Members of Dáil Éireann requesting draft motions on setting up a commission of inquiry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6633/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 164 to 167, inclusive, together.
The Fennelly Commission of Investigation is the only Commission of Investigation established under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 for which I have administrative responsibility since I became Taoiseach.
Neither my Department nor I received a request for a draft motion or draft terms of reference for the Fennelly Commission before it was established by the Government from either a legal firm or a member of Dáil Éireann.
Similarly, neither my Department nor I provided a draft motion or draft terms of reference for the Fennelly Commission before it was established by the Government to either a legal firm or a member of Dáil Éireann.
As the Deputy will already be aware from the discussion during Leader's Questions on 3 February this year, on 21 November 2014 my Department provided a legal firm with a copy of the draft Order to establish the O'Higgins Commission, for which the Minister for Justice and Equality has administrative responsibility, after it was approved by the Government on 19 November 2014. A copy of my Department's letter is available on www.merrionstreet.ie.
If the Deputy wants to know the position in relation to any other Commission of Investigation I suggest that he take the matter up directly with the appropriate Minister with administrative responsibility for the Commission concerned.
168. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach the number of jobs lost or gained in County Kildare in each of the past six years to date. [6559/15]
View answerThe exact information requested by the Deputy is not available. The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) is the official source of estimates of employment in the State. The most recent figures available are for Q3 2014. Estimates of employment are produced by NUTS 3 Regions. The NUTS 3 Mid-East region includes Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. Due to methodology and sample size it is not possible to produce reliable Kildare County estimates from the QNHS.
Table 1a below shows the number of persons aged 15 years and over in employment classified by NUTS3 Mid-East region in Q3 of each year from 2008 to 2014.
Table 1b shows the annual change in the numbers of persons aged 15 years and over in employment classified by NUTS3 Mid-East region in Q3 of each year from 2009 to 2014.
As Table 1a shows the overall stock of persons employed at given points in time, the annual changes which are calculated using these stock figures depend both on the number of jobs lost and jobs created over the period in question.
The QNHS does not record whether a job is newly created.
Table 1a Persons aged 15 years and over in employment (ILO) classified by NUTS3 Mid-East region, Q3 2008 - Q3 2014
'000
|
Q3 08 |
Q3 09 |
Q310 |
Q3 11 |
Q3 12 |
Q3 13 |
Q3 14 |
|
|
In employment |
246.8 |
231.1 |
228.5 |
226.6 |
223.5 |
216.7 |
229.6 |
Data may be subject to sampling or other survey errors, which are greater in respect of smaller values or estimates of change.
Source: Quarterly National Household Survey, Central Statistics Office.
Table 1b Persons aged 15 years and over in employment (ILO) classified by NUTS3 Mid-East region, Q3 2009 - Q3 2014 -Annual change
'000
|
Q3 09 |
Q3 10 |
Q3 11 |
Q3 12 |
Q3 13 |
Q3 14 |
|
|
In employment |
-15.6 |
-2.6 |
-1.9 |
-3.1 |
-6.9 |
12.9 |
Data may be subject to sampling or other survey errors, which are greater in respect of smaller values or estimates of change.
Source: Quarterly National Household Survey, Central Statistics Office.
169. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Taoiseach his plans to meet the new Greek Prime Minister, Mr Alexis Tsipras. [6695/15]
View answerI was pleased to meet with the new Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, on 12 February in Brussels at the Informal Meeting of EU Heads of State and Government and we had a short informal discussion in the margins of that meeting. I congratulated Mr. Tsipras on his election as Prime Minister of Greece. I indicated that I would be happy to welcome him to Ireland, and to have further discussions about how we worked through and successfully emerged from our EU-IMF programme. I expect to meet Prime Minister Tsipras again at the next meeting of the European Council, which is currently scheduled for 19-20 March.
170. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Taoiseach further to Parliamentary Question No. 173 of 3 February 2015, the reason the national flag was not flown at half-mast over Government Buildings on the occasions of the deaths of the President of Malawi, Mr. Bingu wa Mutharika, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr. Meles Zenawi, and the President of Zambia, Mr. Michael Sata, all of whom died in office, as Ireland has close connections with these countries through the provision of Irish Aid and through having embassies assigned to them. [6824/15]
View answerMy Department is currently reviewing the policy on arrangements for the half masting of the National Flag over Government Buildings.
171. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Taoiseach the number of times Dáil Éireann has sat on a Friday since Friday sittings were introduced by the Government; the number of Bills introduced during Friday sittings; the number of these Bills that were accepted by the Government and their status at present; the number of these Bills voted down by the Government; the number of these Bills that have passed all stages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7048/15]
View answerDáil Eireann has sat 38 times on a Friday since Friday sittings were introduced by the Government.
The other statistics requested by the Deputy will be forwarded to him as soon as possible.
172. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Taoiseach the projected cost to his Department of converting to using Eircode; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7637/15]
View answerThere are no projected costs to my Department to convert to using Eircode other than the cost of including the Eircode on departmental stationery. My Department has been managing its stock of headed stationery since the announcement of the move to Eircode. It is envisaged that my Department will be able to order its new stationery, including the Eircode, later in the year without bearing any additional cost.
173. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the extra revenue that would accrue to the State if working proprietary company directors were categorised as class A for the purpose of pay related social insurance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6597/15]
View answer174. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the amount of pay related social insurance that has been paid by employers, for proprietary company directors, in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 to date. [6598/15]
View answer175. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection her plans on reviewing pay related social insurance payable by proprietary company directors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6599/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 173 to 175, inclusive, together.
Prior to the enactment of the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 the practice in my Department had been that company directors holding 50% or more of the shareholding of a company were not normally regarded as being in a master/servant relationship and therefore were deemed to have a contract for services and to be insurable at class S (self-employed) and not a contract of service, insurable at class A (employee).
The rationale behind this 50% practice was that a person with such a sizeable shareholding in a company could not normally be considered an employee of that company, by virtue of the level of control he/she had over the company employing them.
Questions were raised about the correctness of this approach. It was considered that it was not desirable to reclassify approximately 90,000 directors from class S to class A as the change would impose a major additional cost on small and medium sized businesses in the depth of a recession and would be counter to Government policy.
It was decided therefore to legislate to provide for a legal basis for determining that working directors with a shareholding of 50% or greater would be insurable at Class S. Section 16 of the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 (No. 20 of 2013) provides that the employment of a working director with a shareholding of 50% or more in a company is an excepted employment. In these circumstances the individual is classified as self-employed and is liable to pay PRSI at class S. These working directors are not regarded as being insurable as an employed contributor in the company.
This legislation came into effect from 28 June 2013.
The insurable status of working directors who own or control less than 50% of the shareholding of the company continues to be determined on a case by case basis, taking into consideration the Code of Practice for Determining the Employment or Self-employment Status of Individuals.
Annually, only about 450 (0.5%) of the total number of working directors (90,000 approximately) seek insurability decisions from my Department. The vast majority of working directors consider themselves to be class S (self-employed) rather than class A (employee).
Information on the amount of PRSI that has been paid by employers for proprietary (working) company directors in each of the past ten years is not available and it is not possible to state what extra revenue would accrue to the State if working directors were categorised as class A for PRSI purposes.
176. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the reason for non-payment of moneys to a bus operator (details supplied) who was recently admitted to the free travel scheme for bus service here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7079/15]
View answerTravel operators must comply with a number of terms and conditions when entering the free travel scheme. In this regard they must –
- conduct surveys of free travel customers to the Department's specification;
- provide copies of their motor insurance policies indemnifying the Department and providing for public liability; and
- provide copies of the public service vehicle licences for each of the buses being used on the service.
While the company concerned signed its preliminary contract on the 13th November 2014 for entry into the scheme with effect from the 17th November last, it has not provided the documentation referred to above which would enable agreement on the amount to be paid and finalisation of the contract.
The company concerned has been notified of these requirements on numerous occasions and has also met with officials of the Department to discuss. In the circumstances, the Deputy will appreciate that payment cannot be made until all outstanding documentation has been submitted and the contract formally concluded.
177. Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when a decision will be made on an appeal in respect of an invalidity pension for a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6649/15]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 3rd February 2015, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing.
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 on social welfare entitlements.
