Results 21,141-21,160 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The EU Council Recommendation on a Youth Guarantee received political agreement at the EPSCO Council meeting on 28 February and was adopted formally last month. The Recommendation is that Member States should ensure that all young people under the age of 25 years receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Remuneration (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The amount of gross savings that would be made by the Department if salaries to personnel were capped at €100,000 is approximately €592,000 in a full year. This figure is based on the salaries paid as at week ending 16 March 2013 and is inclusive of Employer's PRSI. This figure does not take account of lost revenue to the State from statutory deductions on amounts over...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Sector Staff Retirements (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2011 provides that State pension age will be increased gradually to 68 years. This will begin in 2014 with the abolition of the State pension (transition) thereby standardising State pension age for all at 66 years. The State pension age will be further increased to 67 years in 2021 and to 68 years in 2028. These changes apply to all fully insured...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Agencies Funding (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 28, 34 and 40 together. The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for supporting the provision of information, advice including money and budgeting advice and advocacy on a wide range of public and social services. It provides some services directly to the public. It directly funds and supports an extensive range of services...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Rates (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 27, 29 and 52 together. The estimated expenditure on child benefit in 2013 is around €1.9 billion and it is currently paid to around 611,000 families in respect of some 1.16 million children. The Government is conscious that child benefit, as a universal payment, can be an important source of income for all families, especially during a time of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 35 and 54 together. There are currently approximately 86,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for 2013. The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation, whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Gender Recognition Issues (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: As I have indicated on a number of occasions I want the legislation to deal with the gender recognition advanced as quickly as possible. The issues involved are complex and have implications for other areas of Government. I realise also that this is a very sensitive area for those involved and people are naturally keen that the legislation be brought forward quickly. I understand that but...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Payments (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 58 together. The farm assist scheme is based on jobseeker's allowance. It was introduced in 1999 to replace 'Smallholders Unemployment Assistance' for low income farmers, without the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking work. Farm assist recipients retain all the advantages of the jobseeker's allowance scheme such as retention of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Ready to Work Programme (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that funding for the Ready for Work Programme operated by Business in the Community has been approved for the current year.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I wish to assure the Deputy that prompt processing of claims remains a priority for me. Each scheme area is continuously monitored and reviewed to ensure customers are responded to as quickly as possible. I am proud to inform the Deputy that the Department has had major success in clearing backlogs especially over the last year in the disability related schemes. The Table below provides...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Administration (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 37 and 50 together. JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme, was launched on 1st July 2011. The Scheme has made very significant progress. As at 24th May 2013, 17,609 internships have commenced to-date. There are currently 6,104 jobseekers undertaking internship opportunities. In addition, there are 2,218 internship opportunities available across a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Student Support Schemes Issues (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department for Education and Skills is primarily responsible for education and training policy and associated student support. This Department operates a range of employment support schemes which offer support and assistance to jobseekers in making them job ready as they aim to seek work in the open labour market. I am not aware of any engagement with the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 41, 42, 134 and 143 together. The number of cases currently on appeal and the current average time taken to process appeals of social welfare payments is given in the Table. These processing times are calculated from the registration date of the appeal to the date of its finalisation. They include all activities during this period including time spent...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Supplement Application Numbers (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 43 and 48 together. There are approximately 13,000 mortgage interest supplement recipients for which the Government has provided approximately €42 million for in 2013. The purpose of the mortgage interest supplement (MIS) scheme is to provide short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 44, 140 and 141 together. In the first instance, the Government's primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. Past experience suggests that youth unemployment, which tends to rise relatively rapidly in a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: Consistent poverty which is defined as a combination of at-risk-of-poverty (where household income is below the 60% equivalised national median income threshold) and basic deprivation (an enforced lack of 2 or more items of an 11 item list of basic goods and services) is the official Irish measure used to quantify the proportion of the population living in poverty. As measured by the CSO in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Cost (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Department’s control savings targets for 2011 and 2012 were €540m and €645m respectively. In the two years in question, amounts of €645m and €669m in control savings were recorded as achieved by year end. The savings target for 2013 is €710 million which is an increase of €40m on the savings achieved in 2012. Control savings are an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The requirement to be habitually resident in Ireland was introduced as a qualifying condition for certain social assistance schemes and child benefit with effect from 1 May 2004. It was introduced in the context of the Government's decision to open the Irish labour market to workers from the 10 new EU Member States, without the transitional limitations which were imposed at that time by most...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Applications (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Department’s primary role in relation to the area of housing supports is the provision of income support through the rent supplement scheme for which the Government has provided a sum of over €403 million for 2013. The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (29 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I am grateful to the Deputy for his work on developing the proposed initiative which he has entitled “Ticket to Work”. While the establishment of such a scheme would be a matter for my colleague, Richard Bruton T.D, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the first instance, consideration of any such intervention would have to be cognisant of its potential effect on...