Results 22,841-22,860 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Issues (22 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Maternity benefit is an income maintenance payment awarded to eligible women for a 26-week period on foot of a confinement. Entitlement to this benefit for employees is contingent on entitlement to statutory maternity leave. In 2013 my Department will spend €297.4m on Maternity Benefit and Adoptive Benefit, in respect of a weekly average of 21,800 recipients. The information...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Eligibility (22 Oct 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. It is expected that the estimated expenditure for ENPs in 2013 will be in excess of €35 million. ENPs are payable at the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme Payments (22 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme provides a one-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when children start school each autumn. The Government has provided €48.8m for the scheme in 2013. To date in 2013, some 14,000 persons over the age of 18 years qualified for BSCFA. Budget 2014 provides for the discontinuance of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (22 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Under HAP, responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with a long-term housing need will transfer from the Department of Social Protection to local authorities using HAP. Officials in the Department of Social protection are working with those in the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, who are leading the project, in developing proposals to give effect to this...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Supplement Abolition (22 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The original purpose of the mortgage interest supplement scheme was to provide short term support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists with the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only. There are currently approximately 11,000 people in receipt of mortgage...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programme (22 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 299 and 300 together. The JobBridge scheme came into operation on 1st July 2011. As at 17th October, 2013, 22,128 internships had commenced with 6,004 individuals currently undertaking JobBridge placements and a further 2,864 internship opportunities advertised on the JobBridge website (). On 1st May, 2013, the Taoiseach and I launched the final report of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Issues (22 Oct 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 07th October 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 person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer's decision when the appeal has been...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (22 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Budget 2014 provided for: expenditure reduction measures of €226 million in 2014; €30 million in savings through additional fraud and control measures; and €34 million in savings through efficiencies and lower than anticipated expenditure on certain schemes, an overall expenditure reduction package of €290 million in 2014. The savings in 2015, 2016, 2017 and in a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Voluntary Work Option Issues (22 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I am deeply conscious of the long tradition of volunteering in this country and the contribution that volunteering makes to Ireland's social fabric. In recognition of the vital role played by the voluntary community, my Department operates a Voluntary Work Option scheme for customers on the Jobseeker schemes. Under these arrangements a Jobseeker customer may engage in voluntary work within...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Poverty Impact Assessment (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are currently over 82,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 134 together. The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation, whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The overall aim is to provide short-term assistance, and not to act as an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The number of persons aged 25 or under in receipt of jobseeker's benefit or in receipt of jobseeker's allowance are 3,153 and 51,076, respectively. Provision of the information requested by the Deputy in relation to the number of dedicated training placements she is making exclusively available to those aged 25 or under is the responsibility of my colleague Ruairí Quinn T.D., Minister...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 121 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that there is no record of any appeal by the person concerned having been received by that office. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Applications (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance was received from the person concerned on the 12th August 2013. This application was referred to one of the Department's Medical Assessors who considered that the child was not medically eligible for the allowance. A letter issued on the 13th September 2013 advising her of the decision. She subsequently requested a review of this decision and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Household Benefits Scheme (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: My overall concern in this Budget has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. To allow us to protect these core payments, we have had to look very carefully at other additional payments such as the household benefits package, including the telephone allowance. While we have cut the telephone allowance, there have been no cuts to the electricity/gas allowance, free travel, the free...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 5 July 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 were received in the Social Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an Appeals Officer, having considered all of the evidence presented, 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 Protection and of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (23 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The application for carer's allowance by the person in question was disallowed on the 23rd of January 2013. The person in question appealed this decision and submitted additional evidence in support of the application. The decision was reviewed by a deciding officer in the light of the additional evidence supplied but there was no change in the decision and the customer wax notified of this...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (23 Oct 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 allow 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 Protection and...