Results 21,841-21,860 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Youth unemployment continues to present a major challenge for Ireland as it does for most Member States. Recognising the urgency required in tackling the challenge of youth joblessness, the EPSCO Council quickly agreed on the EU Council Recommendation on a Youth Guarantee in February. The Irish Presidency was at the forefront of securing agreement on the adoption of the Recommendation. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (9 Jul 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 26 June 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 Department and is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned currently has a lease agreement which expires on 31 July 2013. Therefore following the expiration of this agreement, she has an entitlement to the revised rent limit for a parent and two children in North Kildare which is €800.00 per month.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The Pathways to Work document states that the introduction of the new Intreo service is a multi-annual project with all Department local offices upgraded to full Intreo offices by the end of 2014. The delivery of the Intreo service comprises a number of elements. The main elements being: i. The integration of the various welfare decision making processes to speed up decision making and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Websites (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 292 and 293 together. The Department’s website www.welfare.ie has been redesigned to more properly reflect the full range of services the Department now delivers. The new website represents the first phase of a multiple programme of planned activity in the website and online services area of the Department. It incorporates the major expansion of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payments (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The Government has provided €47.6m for the scheme in 2013. There is no automatic entitlement to a payment. ENPs are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Administration (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: There are currently in excess of 770,000 people in receipt of free travel from my Department and when spousal and companion passes are taken into account, there are over 1.1 million customers with some free travel eligibility. Expenditure on this scheme was frozen at 2010 levels by the previous Government. Expenditure for the free travel scheme in 2013 is set at €77 million. Given...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The costs of the various reviews referred to by the Deputy are as follows: - The third Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund was completed by consultants KPMG in June 2012 at a cost of €153,750 including VAT. - The Department made a voluntary contribution of € 130,000 to the OECD for their very significant work in undertaking their Review of the Irish Pension System. -...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: EU Directives (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: On 25 April last, the European Court of Justice issued a ruling which contained a number of clarifications regarding transposition EU Directive 2008/94EC which concerns the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer. This ruling was in response to a July 2011 referral from the High Court regarding proceedings brought by former workers at Waterford Crystal. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: All payments of the internship allowance are made by the Department of Social Protection into the intern’s bank account. This top-up will be paid for the duration of the internship. The allowance is paid in arrears and normally participants receive this top-up allowance approximately 2 weeks after commencing on the Scheme. I wish to advise the Deputy that the person referred to in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 5th January 2011. The person concerned was refused carer’s allowance on the grounds that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full time care and attention as prescribed in regulations, that full time care and attention was not being provided by the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance was received from the person concerned on the 24th April 2012. This application was referred to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors who found that the child was not medically eligible for the allowance. A letter issued on the 12th June 2012 advising of the decision. Following receipt of your representations together with additional...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Numbers (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The JobBridge Scheme has made very significant progress since it came into operation on 1 July 2011. As at 27 June 2013, 18,587 internship placements have commenced to-date with 5,934 participants currently on a JobBridge placement and 1,936 internship posts currently advertised on the JobBridge website. Please see tables below in respect of internships in County Wicklow. Table 1: Placements...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The Labour Court recommended in July 2008 (LCR19293) that an agreed pension scheme should be introduced for Community Employment (CE) scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors, and that such a scheme should be adequately funded by FÁS. Notwithstanding the position of the Department (who now has responsibility for CE) in rejecting that liability for these costs to be met from public...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 30 January 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers have been received in the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: According to the information available to this Department the person concerned pays a rent of €850 per month and has a qualified adult and four qualified children. The eldest child of the person concerned, who is in receipt of a payment from this Department, is not considered a qualified child and is liable for a minimum contribution of €30 per week towards the cost of the rent...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an oral hearing of the appeal of the person concerned took place on 20 March 2013 and that the Appeals Officer is now considering the appeal in the light of all of the evidence submitted, including that adduced at the oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised that a decision in this case will issue within the next week....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Rates (9 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 308, 321 and 346 together. Self-employed persons are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4% which entitles them to access long-term benefits such as State pension (contributory) and widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension (contributory). In 2011 I established the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare to meet the commitment made in the...