Results 20,161-20,180 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer having fully considered all the available evidence allowed the appeal of the person concerned by way of summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officers decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 297 to 299, inclusive, and 303 together. My department has not provided any hardware or software, including telephones, in my home. Mobile phones have been supplied to me, my advisors Edward Brophy, Paul O’Brien (replacing Kathleen Barrington) and my parliamentary assistant Karen O’ Connell. Since July 2012 my department has availed of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 31st January 2013, 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I understand from clarification received from the Fianna Fáil Office that the information sought by the Deputy relates to staffing costs for Ministers for Social Protection constituency offices which are set out: 2011 – 2013 Constituency Office Grade - Salary Scale Ministerial Appointments 1 Personal Assistant - €43,715 - €56,060 1 Personal Secretary -...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Illness Benefit Eligibility (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned exhausted their entitlement to illness benefit on 9th January 2013. The person concerned may re-qualify for illness benefit when they have paid 13 reckonable PRSI contributions after this date, and they are unable to work because they are sick or ill. Alternatively, the person concerned may choose to apply for invalidity pension or disability allowance....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: On taking office the Government reformed the transport arrangements for Ministers which has radically reduced the costs of travel. The Government decision involved confining the use of State cars from 1 May 2011. As a result, the average cost of providing transport has been reduced by 65% - from an average cost of €280,000 per minister in 2010 to a current annual estimate of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Appeals (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 28th January 2013, 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The persons concerned have both made repeat claims for jobseeker’s allowance, having both lost their appeal against an earlier disallowance. The first repeat claim was made on the 4 December 2012 and the second person made their claim on 1 January 2013. Both claims are currently under investigation in relation to the assessment of means. Once the means assessment is completed, a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: One of the person’s concerned has a claim for rent supplement on which payment is currently suspended, pending the establishment of his entitlement to a primary social welfare payment. The person concerned had a claim for Jobseekers Allowance which was disallowed and this decision was upheld on appeal in October 2012. As a consequence, the Rent Allowance claim was suspended with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: There are currently four credit cards in use by officers of the Department and one by the Pensions Ombudsman who operates under the aegis of the Department and for whom the Department makes administrative payments. Details of the cards and the total expenditure on each card since 2009 are set out in the accompanying table: Credit Card costs 2009 - 2013 Purpose of card 2009 (€)...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The aim of Community Employment (CE) remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment and/or further education and training. The core eligibility criterion for CE is that the person is in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment and is either long term unemployed or socially marginalised. At present, persons signing for credits or who are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 17th January 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 13...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community and Employment Schemes (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 311, 323, 327, 337 and 338 together. TÚS, the community work placement initiative introduced during 2011, was initially set up to provide up to 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. As part of the 2013 budget package for the Department of Social Protection, the number of places on Tús is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Ministerial Meetings (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The main item on the agenda of the recent Council of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Ministers (EPSCO) meeting in Brussels was youth unemployment. Under my chairmanship, EPSCO gave political agreement to a Council Recommendation on an EU-wide Youth Guarantee. The EPSCO Recommendation is that each Member State should ensure that young people receive a quality offer of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The rural social scheme provides income support for farmers and those engaged in fishing who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments. Participants are engaged for 19½ hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. The scheme currently provides work opportunities for around 2,600 participants and 130 supervisory staff. The funds allocated...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: My Department is examining at present ways to make the delivery of the welfare service more efficient in the areas concerned, having regard to available resources, both currently and in the future. One model of delivery that has been successful in other areas of Dublin is consolidation of smaller offices, with limited opening times and availability, into a central unit in the area that has...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the disability allowance claim of the person concerned was disallowed following an assessment by a Medical Assessor who expressed the opinion that she was medically unsuitable for the allowance. An appeal was registered on 10 December 2012 and in accordance with the statutory procedures the relevant department papers and the comments of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Care Services (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I am very conscious that the forthcoming changes to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme highlight the need for additional supports to be in place for lone parents who will be affected by these changes. In particular, there will be a need for additional after-school child care provision to be made available in order to assist former OFP recipients to make their transition into...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Eligibility (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: Invalidity pension is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the contribution conditions. Entitlement to invalidity pension can only be fully determined on receipt of a completed application form. To date no application has been received from the person concerned.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Strategies (12 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 318, 320 and 321 together. The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers and works to ensure that claims are processed in the most efficient and expeditious way possible, having regard to the eligibility conditions that apply to each scheme. There are no significant backlogs of new claims awaiting decision in illness...