Results 23,241-23,260 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Budget 2014 (12 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The overall concern of the Government in this and previous budgets has been to protect the primary weekly social welfare rates. Maintaining the rate of the State pension and other core payments is critical in relation to protecting people from poverty. To allow us to protect these core payments, we have had to look very carefully at other additional payments. The cost of the telephone...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: International Agreements (12 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: This is not a matter for my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (12 Nov 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 approximately 81,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: School Meals Programme (12 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 229 to 231, inclusive, together. The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services for disadvantaged children through two schemes. The first is the statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department. The second is the school meals local projects scheme (SMLPS) through...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (12 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Legislation provides that a person’s weekly jobseeker's payment may be reduced for refusal or failure, without good cause, to engage with activation measures. Decisions regarding whether to apply the above sanctions are made by a Deciding Officer and are subject to appeal to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office.

Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputy Butler for raising the issue of providing social protection for the self-employed, which he has raised on many occasions in this House because it is a very important issue for the hundreds of thousands of self-employed people in the country. 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...

Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputy Butler because his is a very sensible suggestion. The 2010 actuarial review of the social insurance fund, which I published last year, determined that the self-employed are obtaining better value for the level of their current social insurance companies than are those in employment, where they and their employer pay a combined contribution of 14.75%. The actuarial review went...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Investigations (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: A key priority for Government is to ensure that social welfare payments are available to those who are entitled to them and that fraudulent activity is vigorously prevented and combatted. A range of measures are employed by the Department to ensure that social welfare fraud and abuse is minimised and that it’s control activity is appropriately focused. The approach taken by the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Issues (13 Nov 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 7 October 2013 and that the Appeals Officer is now considering the appeal in the light of all of the correspondence/evidence submitted, including that adduced at the oral hearing. The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision when the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Jobseeker's benefit is a weekly payment to people out of work and covered by social insurance. If a person does not qualify for JB they may qualify for means tested jobseeker's allowance. The Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure on the jobseeker’s schemes of €3.66 billion in 2013. Budget 2013 provided that the duration for which jobseeker’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Any person of working age who does not qualify for jobseeker’s benefit may claim means tested jobseeker’s allowance. Subject to means and other qualifying conditions, self-employed persons may claim jobseeker’s allowance if their business ceases or there is reduced demand for their services. Typically over 80% of jobseeker’s allowance claims from self-employed...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Illness Benefit Applications (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Illness benefit is a payment made to insured people who are unable to work due to illness and who satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions. Under the Social Protection Regulations, the rate payable on illness benefit claims depends on a person's earnings in the governing contribution year. The governing contribution year is the second last complete tax year before the year in which a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: A person wishing to pursue a course of study under the back to education allowance scheme will have to satisfy a number of conditions such as being a certain age, in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment for a specified time period, pursuing a full time course of study. Currently the period for which a person is required to be on a qualifying social welfare payment, such as...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exchequer Savings (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The 2014 Budget Day Estimates for jobseeker’s allowance and jobseeker’s benefit provide for expenditure of €3.27 billion in 2014. This provision is nearly €0.4 billion less than the provision of €3.66 billion for these schemes in the Revised Estimates Volume for 2013.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobBridge Scheme Evaluation (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The Indecon Evaluation Report published by the Taoiseach and myself on 1stMay 2013 provided a number of key recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the scheme. The Department has already taken a number of key actions in response to these recommendations including increasing the number of internships that a jobseeker may undertake, improving the Department’s quality and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The over 80 allowance of €10 per week is automatically paid to recipients of State pension on attaining 80 years of age. The enabling legislation provides for this automatic payment. There is no scope to opt in or out of the increase in question. All social welfare means-tested payments are provided to those with specific support needs. It would not be appropriate for those with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I can confirm that the carer’s allowance payments to the person concerned were suspended in May 2013 pending a report from a social welfare investigative officer. There is evidence that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are not satisfied. It is expected that the investigative officer will shortly complete and submit the report and a deciding officer will...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Work Initiatives (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Tús, the community work placement initiative introduced during 2011, was established to provide 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. The initiative was expanded during 2013 to enable an additional 2,500 per annum to participate. Some 7,320 were on the Tús payroll on 8th November 2013 (including supervisors/team leaders),...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Illness Benefit Payments (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Illness benefit is a payment for people who cannot work due to illness and who satisfy the Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions. Incapacity codes are recorded on claims during the claim registration process. As of 8 November 2013, 124 claims out of a total of 59,696 claims awarded and in payment have an incapacity code recorded as alcoholism. This equates to 0.21% of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Issues (13 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that, an appeal by the person concerned was registered on 20 June 2013 and in accordance with the statutory requirements, the Appeals Office contacted the appellant and asked her to set out the complete grounds of her appeal. This information was submitted on the 17 July 2013 and in accordance with the statutory procedures, the Department...