Results 21,381-21,400 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Of course.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Yes.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The process will be extended to everybody.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: And the payment of services.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank all the Senators who contributed to the debate in such detail and with such knowledge regarding the way social welfare impacts on a huge number of people in our population. To deal with Senator Ó Domhnaill's contribution, the fundamental problem is that in the aftermath of his Government's disastrous bank guarantee over 250,000 jobs were lost in this country in three short years....

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I was simply thinking aloud as I look at the Senators. However, intelligent software is being used. A number of Members asked the reason fingerprinting or iris recognition technology were not used, as the latter also is available and is used in many places of employment. I found a system that had been commissioned and tendered for when I came into the Department but which had not been...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I think Sinn Féin is wrong. What proves it, if Senator Ó Clochartaigh cares to check, is that the system to which we are moving is similar to the one in the North and in the UK and I have not heard a single Sinn Féin representative complain that the ageing-out point is seven in the North of Ireland.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Perhaps, privately, Sinn Féin has discussions in which it is strongly critical of the North's system but I have not seen any of it referenced in public. One must remember that we all share a common view, including, I hope, Sinn Féin because almost every other party here and most of the Independents here share it, that we want to enable-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: -----all currently on a social welfare income during their working lives, whether as lone parents or as persons with a disability, to participate in employment to the maximum extent possible and appropriate so that they have a level of income-earning capacity which is in excess of minimum social welfare payments. That makes sense for everybody and it is a win-win for the individuals and for...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: As I stated, perhaps Sinn Féin discusses, compares and contrasts-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: -----the position in the North in private.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: On child care, I am pleased to have given a significant amount of my tight budget to create the first system of after-school child care. Last year, Senator Ó Clochartaigh and others stated that the community employment sector would close down. Since the Department has taken over community employment schemes we have increased it, for instance, with Tús, of which Senators Mooney and...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: On the issues raised about the Árd Clárathóir, the Registrar, where persons are anxious to have arrangements on the registration of deaths abroad, the officials are working on legislation in that respect. Like much legislation, it is technically complex, but we are making quite an amount of progress on that. I hope to bring proposals in that regard to the Dáil and to...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: On actors, I have not heard about that particular issue previously. The great benefit of the social welfare system is that arrangements are set in law. Obviously, we will look at any such proposals, subject to affordability, in the context of future legislation.

Topical Issue Debate: Job Creation Issues (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputy Jim Daly for raising this important matter. Support for job creation is central to Government policy at all times, and particularly in times of high unemployment. The employer job PRSI scheme and the Revenue job assist scheme are aimed at incentivising employers. As the Deputy has pointed out, neither of these schemes achieved a high level of utilisation. Both schemes were...

Topical Issue Debate: Job Creation Issues (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputy Jim Daly for the work he has done and the thought he has given to how the Government can improve incentives and target people who are long-term unemployed. We expect to launch JobsPlus in early July and we will see how the scheme goes. I had an opportunity, as part of the roll-out of the Pathways to Work scheme, to visit eight or nine major locations with a departmental...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fishing Communities (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The employment status of fishing crew members, including inshore fishing crew members, reflects the differing pay and conditions that apply, which varies throughout the fishing sector. Where a crew member is paid a set wage, even where it may be supplemented by reference to a share in the catch, the worker is generally considered to be an employee and covered for all benefits and pensions at...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The recently published European Commission report, 'The Gender Gap in Pensions in the EU', deals with the gender gap in pensions across Europe and is the first study of its kind. The study reveals that across the 27 EU Member States, women who are currently in receipt of pensions, receive average amounts which are 39% lower than those of men. For Ireland, the report indicates this pensions...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I understand that this refers to the question of having a commissioner for oaths entered in the register of solemnisers provided for under section 53 of the Civil Registration Act 2004, as amended, in order that they may solemnise marriages. Section 54 of the Act provides that a religious body, a secular body and the Health Service Executive (HSE) may be registered in the register of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Support (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 193, 199, 200, 205 and 206 together. In line with commitments contained in the Programme for Government, I established an Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare in June 2011, with the aim of harnessing expert opinion and experience to examine a number of specific issues. These include making cost-effective proposals for improving employment incentives and...