Results 2,101-2,120 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I acknowledge the work Deputy Cowley does in this area and I have had many meetings with emigrant groups in the United Kingdom in the past year. Deputy Stagg has also raised this matter in the House and elsewhere. I want to extend free travel to those living in the United Kingdom in receipt of Irish pensions. Some 45,000 people in the UK receive pensions from my Department. I am strongly...

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I am of the view, and I am legally advised, that Chancellor Brown will not be able to introduce a scheme to allow Irish people have free travel in the UK and not extend it to those from France, Greece, Spain and the other EU member states. While the Irish Post might state it, Chancellor Brown will not be able to introduce the measure on the basis outlined by Deputy Stagg. Chancellor Brown...

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The regulations allow certain exemptions regarding cross-border and interterritorial travel to be applied if a land mass is contiguous, as Northern Ireland is to us. However, it is an aside. It is not the main issue. All I can state is that I will continue to examine this. I have not given up on it. However, I must be straight with the House. That is the position at the moment. I will...

Written Answers — Homeless Persons: Homeless Persons (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 32 together. The Government is committed to addressing homelessness in a comprehensive and co-ordinated manner. Substantial progress is being made under the Government's strategy on adult homelessness, in addressing the needs of people who are homeless and in assisting them to move to accommodation that is more suitable to their needs. This has been done...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The back to work allowance scheme, which was introduced in 1993, is part of my Department's programme of initiatives designed to assist long-term unemployed, lone parents and other social welfare recipients to return to the active labour force. There are two strands to the scheme, the back to work enterprise allowance for self-employment and the back to work allowance for employees. In budget...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: 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 new EU member states without the transitional limitations which were being imposed at that time by...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The early child care supplement, ECS, scheme was introduced in budget 2006. The scheme is under the remit of the Office of the Minister for Children, which will be responsible for policy and legislation in relation to the scheme. The administration of the scheme is being undertaken by my Department. The scheme is a universal one and all parents-guardians of children up to six years of age are...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 135 together. I approached the recent budget with a number of key priorities in mind: I wanted to continue to improve the position of our older people; I wanted to take a decisive step forward towards the elimination of poverty, particularly child poverty; to assist in the development of a programme of supports and opportunities for those parenting...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The term "fuel poverty" has been described as the inability to afford adequate warmth in a home, or the inability to achieve adequate warmth because of energy inefficiency in the home. The primary contributory factor is the energy efficiency of the private and public housing stock. Problems in this regard relate to older housing, with poor insulation and draught-proofing or inefficient...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14, 21, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47, 57, and 60 together. The Government acknowledges that the risk of poverty, especially child poverty, tends to be higher among one-parent families, larger families and those faced by long-term unemployment, due mainly to the direct costs of rearing children, including child care costs and the opportunity costs related to the reduced...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The introduction of a personal advocacy service for people with disabilities is provided for in the Comhairle (Amendment) Bill 2004 which was published in September 2004 in conjunction with the Disability Bill 2004. The Comhairle (Amendment) Bill is a key element of the Government's legislative programme for improving services for people with disabilities. The combination of this Bill, the...

Written Answers — Departmental Investigations: Departmental Investigations (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Arising from reports in the media, my Department carried out an examination of accesses to the computer record of the person concerned. On a general basis, staff of my Department are authorised to access individual records as long as it is for legitimate business reasons. In view of the number of accesses in this case, managers were asked to examine the matter in order to establish if there...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The school meals programme operated by my Department gives funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes. The first is the long-standing statutory urban school meals scheme, currently operated by 36 local authorities. The Department jointly funds the food costs with these local authorities, which also manage and fund the administration of the...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department operates a number of schemes which provide income support to persons with an illness or disability, including the social insurance disability benefit and invalidity pension schemes, the means-tested disability allowance and blind pension. In addition, there is a further range of benefits available under the occupational injury benefits scheme for people who have been injured or...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The EU survey on income and living conditions, EU-SILC, which commenced in Ireland in June 2003, is an annual survey that provides information on poverty, deprivation and social exclusion. The most recent results, announced on 12 December 2005, record continuing positive trends in relation to poverty and social exclusion, and show the impact being made by the greatly increased resources now...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The living alone allowance is an additional payment of €7.70 per week made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone. It is also available to people under 66 years of age who are living alone and who receive payments under one of a number of invalidity type schemes. The allowance is intended as a contribution towards the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24, 52, 74 and 134 together. The requirement to be habitually resident in Ireland was introduced as a qualifying condition for child benefit and for the following social assistance schemes — with effect from 1 May 2004 — unemployment assistance; old age non-contributory pension; blind pension; widow's-widower's and orphan's non-contributory pensions;...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Expenditure. : Social Welfare Expenditure. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the EU, publishes comparisons of social protection expenditure as a percentage of GDP across the EU. This encompasses not only social welfare expenditure but also expenditure in other areas such as health care, social housing, employment support programmes and other social inclusion programmes. The latest such statistics were released on 20 October 2005 and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The programme for Government contains a commitment to a scheme of all-Ireland free travel for pensioners resident in all parts of the island of Ireland. The scheme would enable pensioners resident here to travel free of charge on all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland. Likewise, pensioners in Northern Ireland would travel free of charge on all bus and rail services in this State. In...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: It is now generally recognised that the causes and effects of poverty and social exclusion are multifaceted. These require a strategic, integrated, multi-policy response for application at national, regional and local levels with the overall aim of progressively achieving social inclusion. Consultation with all the relevant stakeholders is an integral part of the process. The Government began...