Results 4,461-4,480 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Support for farmers on low incomes is available through the farm assist scheme. While this means-tested payment is broadly similar to the jobseeker's allowance scheme, it has a more generous means test, which takes account of the specific nature of farming and, unlike jobseeker's allowance, farmers claiming this payment do not need to be available for work outside of the farm in order to...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme is administered on behalf of the department by the Health Service Executive. The Executive has advised that it has no record of an application for rent supplement from the person concerned. If he wishes to make an application for rent supplement, the person concerned should contact the community welfare officer at his local health centre. The...
- Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 920 and 921 together. This issue was the subject of a High Court judgement concerning the rights of a person, who has undergone gender reassignment surgery, to recognition of her acquired gender. On foot of a High Court judgement, delivered on 19 October 2007, the judge made a declaration, pursuant to Section 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights Act...
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Current estimates indicate that the abolition of the PRSI ceiling would yield some â¬223 million additional contribution income in a full year.
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 923, 930 and 972 together. Full information on the position of the Social Insurance Fund at the end of December 2008 is not yet available. However, current indications are that there was an excess of expenditure over income of the order of â¬200 million. At the beginning of 2008, there was an accumulated surplus of over â¬3.6 billion in the Fund. The...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) Scheme is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Applications for the allowance may be made between the beginning of June and the end of September each year. The Executive has advised that the person concerned was refused BSCFA in 2008 as the family income exceeded...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The Executive had advised that the person concerned was in receipt of rent supplement from 4 February 2008 to 12 November 2008. The Executive has further advised that payment of rent supplement ceased as the person...
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 926 to 929, inclusive, and 951 together. The pension rights of scheme members are protected through trust law and by provision in the Pensions Act 1990 as amended. As supplementary pension schemes are usually established under irrevocable trust, the assets of the scheme are legally separate from the assets of the employer and are not available to any other...
- Written Answers — Departmental Properties: Departmental Properties (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Department has not entered into any leasing or rental arrangements for properties as this responsibility is vested in the Office of Public Works. The office accommodation currently used by the Department includes: 12 Headquarter buildings in Dublin (3 of which are used by agencies of the Department). 6 Decentralised Offices (Sligo, Longford, Letterkenny, Waterford, Dundalk and...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent and mortgage interest supplement, is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Entitlement to rent and mortgage interest supplement is determined on the basis of the circumstances of each individual case including accommodation/mortgage costs and the income...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The Executive must satisfy itself that a bona fide tenancy exists in respect of a property for which a rent supplement is paid. In this regard the first step in verifying the tenancy is the completion of the appropriate application forms on which...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The following is a tabular statement showing the expenditure on rent supplement at quarterly intervals from 2006 to 2008. Provision has been made for expenditure of â¬461.6m on rent supplement in 2009. Expenditure on Rent Supplement at Quarterly Intervals, 2006 to 2008 Quarter Expenditure â¬000 Quarter 1 2006 96,357 Quarter 2 2006 97,551 Quarter 3 2006 97,104 Quarter 4 2006 97,328...
- Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) and Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) schemes are administered by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE) on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The operational arrangements for the processing of applications and the payment to qualifying individuals, is a matter for the respective...
- Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Department delivers a frontline service through a network of 61 Local Offices and 62 Branch Offices countrywide. Local Offices are staffed by civil servants, whereas Branch Offices operate under a contract for service to the Department. Branch Managers are obliged under their contract to provide sufficient clerical assistance to allow for the efficient performance of the work of the...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 938 and 952 together. The person concerned applied for family income supplement on 3 July 2008. Her claim was disallowed on 28 August 2008 by a Deciding Officer of the Department on the grounds that she was not working the required number of hours. An appeal was opened on 17 October 2008 and I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the case has...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions that apply. These conditions vary from scheme to scheme. In some cases there is an unavoidable time lag involved in making the necessary enquiries to enable decisions to be made. Time can also elapse where the...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Illness Benefit (formerly know as Disability Benefit) is an income support payment for people of working age who are unable to work due to illness and who satisfy certain social insurance conditions. The scheme was intended to provide income replacement for insured persons during short spells of incapacity or illness, while other payments are available to people who are unable to work...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The principal social welfare payments available to an unemployed person are jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker's allowance. To qualify a person must satisfy certain conditions set out in legislation, including, that the person is unemployed, is capable of work, is available for work and is genuinely seeking work. The Department also offers a range of education and employment supports designed...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the department by the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation, whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Jan 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Health Service Executive has advised that the payment of supplementary welfare allowance in this case is currently under review with the Executive's Appeals Office. The person concerned will be informed of the Appeals Officer's decision in due course.