Results 20,581-20,600 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Initiatives (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy knows, I am very familiar with the Bawnogue area. I am aware that there is a significant unemployment problem in Bawnogue and other parts of the greater Clondalkin area. At the moment, the local employment service and the Department's office in Clondalkin are providing services to people in the area who are seeking to get back to work. I will revert to the Deputy when our...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Initiatives (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I do not particularly want to discuss private affairs in public.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Initiatives (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: If the Deputy wants to advise me of any other circumstances, I will be happy to hear from him. Many economists are quite critical of jobs clubs, community employment schemes and other efforts to help people back to work and to provide services in communities. In fact, most of the reports on jobs clubs are very positive. The Department has an annual review process. It was decided not to...

Other Questions: Rent Support Schemes (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 8 together. The Government has provided more than €403 million in 2013 for over 86,000 rent supplement recipients. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation. It should not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the...

Other Questions: Rent Support Schemes (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: Can I bottle that comment?

Other Questions: Rent Support Schemes (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I acknowledge the Deputy's analysis of an increase in rents in south County Dublin. The Department constantly checks all of the available information ranging from that on www.daft.ie to information we have available to us from organisations such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, as well as the information available to community welfare officers who work in the area. I want to stress...

Other Questions: Rent Support Schemes (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I have spoken on a number of occasions recently about my own view that we should have a housing stimulus programme, which would address some of the issues Deputy Durkan has raised but would also help get people back to work. We have a difficulty in certain areas where there is a shortage of housing. The previous Government abandoned the building of council housing because, I suppose, at the...

Other Questions: Rent Support Schemes (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank all the Deputies who raised the issue. We are ready to transfer to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government as soon as that Department has the necessary legislative arrangements in place. Deputy Durkan spoke about the long gestation period. A previous Minister spoke about this for nearly a decade. All I can say is that the first trial scheme in respect of...

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: Jobseeker’s allowance is a means-tested social assistance scheme operated by my Department. My Department will spend almost €3.1 billion on the scheme in 2013, which is just over 15% of its programme spend this year. For means-testing purposes, account is taken of the income and assets of both the claimant and his or her spouse or partner, including the earnings of the spouse....

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Deputy has asked a very detailed question about a particular case about which he has been in touch with the Department. I suggest he provide me with further details about it or other cases and I can then respond in detail. A total of 296,000 people were in receipt of jobseeker's allowance at the end of March. The allowance is paid to a significant number of adults of working age....

Topical Issue Debate: Pension Provisions (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. The sustainability of our pension system is of particular concern because, as a country, we have the bonus of many more people living much longer. However, we also have many more children being born. As the Deputy pointed out, there are five people of working age to every one person of retirement age but by the middle of this...

Topical Issue Debate: Pension Provisions (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The most important incentives or the tax breaks for people who invest in private pensions reached their height under Fianna Fáil. We know of quite a number of individuals who were able to build up pension pots of €20 million to €30 million as a consequence of the extraordinary pension-related tax incentives Fianna Fáil provided for very-----

Topical Issue Debate: Pension Provisions (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I am just talking about what we have inherited. My view on tax incentives is set out in the programme for Government. I had this discussion over a long period with Fianna Fáil's former leader Mr. Brian Cowen when he was Minister for Finance. Finally, after several years of debate with me, he commissioned a study that indicated there were extraordinary pension pots of €20...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Unemployment Levels (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 54 together. The number of people classified as underemployed rose significantly during the crisis, from 81,000 at the end of 2008 to 146,000 at the end of 2011 and remained unchanged through to the end of 2012. This type of increase is typically observed at the start of all downturns and is evidence that some employers put workers on part-time...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Remit (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: MABS, which comes within the remit of the Citizens Information Board, provides a high quality service which assists people who are over-indebted or in danger of over-indebtedness, in particular those on low incomes. In 2013 some €19 million has been allocated to fund MABS while the Citizens Information Board has a budget of some €47.4 million. The CIB and MABS National...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy will be aware, the ‘Pathways to Work’ policy commits to the provision of more regular and on-going engagement and greater targeting of activation places and job opportunities for those who are unemployed. It also aims to increase engagement and incentivise employers to provide more jobs for people who are unemployed. The unit includes staff dealing with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Administration (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 47 and 51 together. In this context, Appeals Officers are quasi-judicial officers and are required to be, and are, free and unrestricted in discharging their functions. The appeals system was reformed in 1990 to establish the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO) as a separate executive office with its own premises and staff operating independently of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Numbers (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: There are currently 23 Medical Assessors employed in my Department, including the Chief Medical Adviser and the Deputy Chief Medical Adviser. All of the staff in question serve on a full-time basis. In addition, and in view of the critical control role that Medical Assessors play in assessing and reviewing illness related claims, sanction was also given to appoint additional Medical...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Places (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection is improving the provision of training and work experience for CE participants on Community Employment overall. Supports for Childcare Providers are a matter for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and not this Department. Recent developments have focused on CE schemes involved in supporting community childcare services and on CE participants who...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (24 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the current average times taken to process appeals decided by summary decision is 27.1 weeks and 36.4 weeks for those requiring an oral hearing. The average processing to process appeals in the years 2008 to 2012 is given in the attached table. These processing times are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of...