Results 21,921-21,940 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The forum of organisations in Ballymun dealing with young people will participate. I will provide the details.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I wish to be clear on this point. I would like the Department of Finance to recognise this-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: -----because if were to do nothing to prevent people who are improperly claiming, we would be spending an extra €700 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Senator Marie Moloney and Deputy Jim Daly asked about community employment schemes. It is hoped 2,500 places is a starter number. We have to provide an indicative budget and there is a cap on it. If an employer provides employment in excess of 30 hours a week, the person concerned is taken off social welfare. Having a single person employed will mean a reduction in cost to the Department...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: They are.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: It might be helpful for the Deputy to consider the example of Tús. We initially offered each county 80 to 120 places, depending on its size. The take-up of the scheme which offers participants 19 hours per week has been absolutely fantastic throughout the country. In fact, a large number of counties have come back looking for more places. We have also extended the JobBridge scheme,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Participants take up a JobBridge scheme place for a period of six to nine months. It is a short scheme designed to give people a kick-start where they have a particular qualification but are unable to gain work experience in the economy. People who gain decent work experience under the scheme have something substantial to include in their CV and present to potential employers. In fact, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I saw it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: In the context of his overall questions, the Deputy is correct. The 2014 expenditure ceiling - this is something of a technical public accounting mechanism - for my Department, as included in the papers published by the Department of Finance, will be €610 million lower than it is this year. In Government accounting one has revenue which is money coming in and expenditure which is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: If someone is found to be behaving in a fraudulent manner, his or her benefit will be suspended almost immediately. In the clip from the documentary which I saw some of the people featured appeared to be somewhat chaotic. They could be individuals who have specific issues such as addiction problems and so on. I want to stop all of what is going on in this regard because it is undermining...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Cork County Council and Cork City Council have committed to take on 60 people each on the first stage of the Jobpath. We have had very good co-operation from them. In terms of Cork city and county, approximately 6,000 people are participating in a variety of schemes supported by my Department, including community employment, in which there are a few thousand participants. More than 2,000...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Regarding Deputy Butler's general point which we have discussed a number of times previously, I thank him for acknowledging that, contrary to popular myth, many people who are self-employed get access to social welfare. Almost all the 100,000 people who lost their jobs, particularly as a consequence of the collapse of the construction industry, ended up being self-employed in one way or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: We have a smaller payment now for people with fewer than 48 PRSI contributions. The saving in 2012 would have been about €5.5 million and €8.2 million in 2013. Some of these arrangements were foreshadowed in 1997. Some of them came into force around 2002, and more came into force last year and the year before that. While the amounts involved are small, they build up very...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: In our system, the big safety net is that the non-contributory pension is at the same level as the contributory pension. For instance, in the case of a woman on her own who had no income other than the State contributory pension and it was a reduced amount, she would be well advised to apply for the non-contributory pension because that would bring her up to the same level as that of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: First, to clarify, people who are 65 and who are going onto the jobseeker's register for a year will get a payment for 12 months. I wish to be clear in this regard.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Jobseeker's allowance for the 12 months.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I reassure members they will be covered for the 12 months.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Senator Moloney has made an excellent suggestion and the Department is giving it active consideration in the context of the budget. Second, there is an implicit equality issue in the point made by the Senator, with which I agree, that is, if the pension age is now going to be 66, there is a strong argument for justice and equality to amend the legislation to provide the legal equality...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Pre-Budget Consultation Process: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (10 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: While it is not the responsibility of my Department, I will strongly encourage that. Moreover, I expect most employers also would be positive in this regard. Again, we are in the middle of a lot of social change and there are a great number of people in their 60s who wish to remain working to the age of 66 or 70. On the other hand, this issue was discussed at the forum with all the 37...