Results 22,041-22,060 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 21st May 2013. The medical assessment has been completed. The application is currently with a social welfare investigative officer for assessment of means and confirmation that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are satisfied. Once the investigative...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Following the completion of the Service Delivery Modernisation projects involving the developments of new information technology systems in Invalidity Pension, Carer’s Allowance and Disability Allowance a rolling programme of business process improvement (BPI) commenced for all schemes managed in Longford HQ. The objective of these projects was to introduce significant processing...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: 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 minimise recourse to supplementary welfare payments. ii. The introduction of a profiling process to capture the unique characteristics and service requirements of each jobseeker. iii. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 642 and 649 together. The Department of Social Protection (DSP) has developed, in conjunction with a number of other Government Departments, a rules based standard for establishing and authenticating an individual’s identity for the purposes of access to public services. This programme of work, which is known as the Standard Authentication Framework...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned applied for Rent Supplement under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) Scheme. The application was refused on the grounds that her income is in excess of the SWA guidelines and, consequently, she does not qualify for rent supplement. She was advised of her right to appeal this decision.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (16 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 5th June 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (16 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 28th June 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Waiting Times (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: At week ending 5th July 2013 there were approximately 600 invalidity pension claims awaiting award on foot of a successful appeal. This is due to the high number of claims processed in the past 12 months and the resulting increase in the number of appeals. In the last 4 weeks alone approximately 550 successful appeal cases were received in invalidity pension section. These cases will be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (16 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 30th May 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: Social Welfare Rates (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The replacement rate for given income levels is a tool used to measure the degree to which out-of-work benefits when unemployed replace take home income from work. While there is no pre-determined level of replacement rate, which would influence every individual’s decision to work, higher replacement rates may indicate lower incentives to take up employment. In this regard a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Live Register Statistics (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The number of persons on the live register at the end of 2011, 2012 and June 2013 are detailed by county and duration in the attached tabular statement. It should be noted that all casual registrants are in the ‘Under 3 month’ duration category based on the Central Statistics Office’s definitions. Number of Persons on the Live Register by County and Duration, end of June...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (16 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 19th 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Payments (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) can be paid in respect of children under the age of 16 years. Children over 16 years can apply for Disability Allowance (DA) in their own right. However, different eligibility criteria apply and qualification for DCA does not confer an automatic entitlement to DA, each application is assessed on its individual merits. DCA recipients are advised three months...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Proposed Legislation (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: The Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2013 will provide for a wide range of issues relating to the registration of life events in the State. Representations and recommendations have been made by various groups and organisations since the enactment of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and this Bill seeks to address these issues. The General Register Office, which administers the Civil...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 655 to 657, inclusive, together. A target expenditure of €20.75m has been set for 2013 in respect of payments for medical certificates and reports for illness and disability related schemes. This represents a reduction of some €5m on payments made in 2012. Payments to certifiers are made on a quarterly basis. Two quarterly payments have been...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 658 and 659 together. The Department’s control work is measured in terms of control savings and they are used as a performance indicator for year-on-year activities. Control savings are an estimate of the value of the various control activities across the schemes in payment and refer to future expenditure that would have been incurred but for this...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Issues (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: There are currently no plans to lower the standard qualifying period in receipt of CE-eligible payments from the current 12 month duration, as Community Employment is primarily aimed at long-term unemployed persons, which is generally defined as one year or more on the Live Register. Persons who claim Jobseekers Benefit from 3rd April 2013 can only claim for a maximum duration of 9 months...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I presume that the Deputy is referring to the Gateway , a new initiative between my Department and local authorities which the Government announced as part of the Budget package for 2013. The package included a number of initiatives focused on providing work opportunities for jobseekers, including the provision of 10,000 additional work placements across a number of schemes. The additional...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Statistics (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: Farm assist is a means-tested social assistance payment which is made to low income farmers aged between 18 and 66 years. The scheme takes into account all income from farming and off-farm self-employment, including that of the farmer’s spouse/partner, in which business-related expenses are disregarded. The purpose of this exercise is to estimate the normal level of net income from...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Eligibility (16 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: 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. In Budget 2013 two measures were announced, which were implemented in April 2013, which bring the farm assist scheme into closer alignment with the jobseeker's...