Results 22,721-22,740 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The objective of Gateway is to assist the personal and social development of participants by providing short-term work opportunities with county and city councils with the objective of bridging the gap between unemployment and re-entering the workforce. Gateway is a joint initiative between this Department and county and city councils and responsibility for delivery of this initiative rests...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Homeless Persons Supports (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Novas Initiatives, in a submission to the Department, have raised issues in relation to reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance for younger persons.The reduced rates encourage young jobseekers to improve their skills and remain active in the labour market in order to avoid the risk of becoming long-term unemployed and will help them to progress into sustainable employment on a long-term...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Review (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The review of the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) scheme, which I initiated in May 2012, was completed in December 2012. The report of the review was published in April 2013. The recommendations in the report of the review of the DCA scheme can be divided into administrative changes, which streamline, simplify and make the process more transparent for parents/guardians, and policy...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions Reform (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Increasing State pension age and the abolition of the State pension (transition) are steps that have been taken to ensure the sustainability of pensions into the future. The decision to reform State pension was taken in the context of changing demographics and the fact that people are living longer and healthier lives. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2011 provides that State pension age...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Poverty Impact Assessment (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Poverty Impact Assessment (formerly poverty proofing) is a requirement under the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016. Poverty impact assessment is the process by which Government departments, local authorities and state agencies assess policies and programmes at design, implementation and review stages in relation to the likely impact that they will have or have had on poverty...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Unemployment Data (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The Deputy will be aware that the Department of Social Protection has undergone a significant transformation in recent years with the merger of welfare and employment services, which up until 2012, were provided by three separate organisations. This on-going transformation agenda is underpinned by the Government's twin-pronged approaches set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, focused on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: There are certain conditions placed on persons in receipt of carer's allowance. For example, they cannot be engaged in employment, self-employment, training or education courses outside the home for more than 15 hours a week as this would impact on their caring responsibilities. Community Employment involves working a 19½ hour week, so by taking up a CE position they would be in breach...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 31 and 50 together. Gateway aims to improve the employability and work readiness of participants by providing them with the opportunities to put their work skills into practice and to learn new skills to enable them to progress to work, further education or other development opportunities. In line with Pathways to Work, Gateway will provide, for those...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: As part of the European Council agreement on the 2014 - 2020 EU Budget earlier this year, it was decided, in association with the agreement on the Youth Guarantee, to provide €6 billion for a new Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) for regions with particularly high levels of youth unemployment. €3 billion of this is to be earmarked from existing resources within the European...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Market Issues (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The role of the Labour Market Council is to advise the Minister on matters relating to the implementation of Pathways to Work. Membership of the Council comprises national and international stakeholders and policy experts. This is an approach which has worked well, for example, with regard to the implementation of JobBridge. Over an initial 12 month period to Sept. 2014, the group will be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Administration (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35, 43 and 47 together. The primary purpose of JobBridge is to provide unemployed people with an access route to employment which may otherwise be denied to them, on account of experience, qualifications or other grounds, in a very competitive labour market. JobBridge provides an opportunity to people, who have been unemployed for a period of time, to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: A jobseeker claim may be disallowed where the customer fails to meet the conditions of the scheme, including the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking full-time work. A range of sanctions in the form of payment rate reductions can also be applied to clients who fail, without good cause, to co-operate with the Department’s activation measures, including offers of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Anti-Poverty Strategy (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The national social target for poverty reduction is to reduce consistent poverty to 4 per cent by 2016 and to 2 per cent or less by 2020, from a 2010 baseline rate of 6.3 per cent. Reducing and ultimately eliminating poverty remains a fundamental aspiration of Irish society and is a commitment of the Government. One component of consistent poverty is basic deprivation, which is the enforced...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: In all cases, it is a legal obligation, and the expectation of the Department, that applicants will supply all relevant information as part of their application process, and that they will subsequently report any changes in their circumstances, as such changes may affect their ongoing entitlements. In the context of State pension (transition/contributory) where an increase of qualified adult...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Homeless Persons Data (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 55 together. Under the social welfare system, homeless people have entitlements to the full range of social welfare schemes, including supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) and associated supplements, subject to the normal qualifying conditions. The Department, through its work in the Homeless Persons Unit and the Asylum Seekers & New...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The replacement rate for given income levels is a tool used to measure the degree to whichout-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: Youth Unemployment Measures (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: In the first instance, the Government’s primary strategy to tackle all forms of unemployment, including youth unemployment, is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity through the Action Plan for Jobs. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth and thus reduce unemployment and long-term unemployment. Past experience...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: On the 19 July, 2013, the Cabinet approved the drafting of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2013. I brought this proposal for legislation to the Cabinet as there are a number of important policy issues that I want to see implemented through amendments to the 2004 Act. Two of the principal ones are as follows: - the introduction of measures to combat marriages of convenience by...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The major activation programmes operated in the Department are aimed at increasing the capacity of unemployed people through education and training (for example through the Back to Education Allowance), through offering them periods of productive employment on work of value to the community (for example through Community Employment and Tús) or through offering them periods of work...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Payments (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Child Benefit is a payment to parents for the support of their children. It is paid to approximately 606,000 families in respect of some 1.15 million children with an estimated expenditure of approximately €1.9 billion. I am very conscious of requirement to safeguard the Child Benefit budget and, in this regard, my Department has taken a proactive approach to ensuring that it is only...