Results 23,521-23,540 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Other Questions: Work Placement Programme (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: No.

Other Questions: Work Placement Programme (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Unlike what happens in the North, where the Deputy's party is in government, there is absolutely no compulsion employed in the Irish system. I am delighted to say so. I share many of the concerns identified in various reports in Britain and Northern Ireland, but we do not do that here. The Deputy should be more au fait with the difference between social protection here, social protection...

Other Questions: Work Placement Programme (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: No, there is not.

Other Questions: Work Placement Programme (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I wish the Deputy would take the opportunity to meet with people from the local development network.

Other Questions: Work Placement Programme (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: They have set up structures for assisting the recruitment of people from Tús. The Deputy does not seem to understand the problems of somebody who becomes long-term unemployed, particularly a young man in his mid-twenties. Six months becomes two or three years as, unfortunately, has happened to many people who worked so hard during the building boom. Their capacity and commitment to...

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Question Nos. 9, 16 and 27together. In 2013, my Department will spend approximately €3.66 billion on jobseeker’s benefit and allowance. It is one of the highest spends by the Department. At the end of October 2013, there were 67,990 persons aged 26 or under in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance. Data included in the most recent Quarterly National...

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Currently, there are 38,000 jobseekers under 25 years of age in receipt of a reduced jobseeker’s allowance payment on foot of the changes that were first introduced in 2009. Receiving the full adult rate of a jobseeker’s payment at a young age can lead to welfare dependency from an early age. If young people do not improve their skills, they are at risk of becoming long-term...

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Some of the opportunities that will be available for young people include the following: commencing on 1 January next payment under the JobsPlus initiative of a €300 per month subsidy to an employer who takes on a person unemployed for six months will, I believe, be attractive to employers; an additional in-take of 1,500 young people on to JobBridge; 1,000 Tús scheme places...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Investigations (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The control strategy in operation on the child benefit scheme ensures that payment is only made in respect of children where there is an ongoing entitlement. The Department carried out a Fraud and Error survey on child benefit in 2012 which confirmed the Department’s view that the child benefit scheme is a low risk scheme in terms of fraud and error and that the existing control...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 12, 31, 36 and 39 together. There are currently approximately 81,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided €403 million in 2013. Revised rent limits under the rent supplement scheme came into effect from Monday 17 June 2013 and will be in place until 31 December 2014. The new rent limits have been determined...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The Department is in the process of major organisational change following the transfer of responsibility for the Community Welfare Services and FÁS employment and community employment services. The Department is committed to developing and implementing a case management approach, across the full range of its services, with a focus on working with the person rather than administering a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The Government’s Pathways to Work 2013 strategy prioritises the allocation of available resources to the long-term unemployed and to the young unemployed. The goal in Strand 2 of Pathways to Work is: “To provide unemployed people, in particular people who are long-term unemployed and young unemployed people, with opportunities to enhance their job prospects through...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Supplement Abolition (28 Nov 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 10,500 people in receipt of mortgage...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Anti-Poverty Strategy (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Food poverty refers to an inability to access a nutritionally adequate diet due to issues of affordability of, and access to, food, and that has related impacts on health and social participation. Inadequate food consumption is central to the understanding of poverty as exclusion from everyday life due to lack of resources. In recent years, there is specific focus on food poverty as a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Illness Benefit Reform (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The social insurance system, funded by the Social Insurance Fund (SIF), is core to Ireland’s system of social protection and I am determined that it be protected for current and future generations. However the Fund is not in a healthy financial position. The third Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund was completed by consultants KPMG in 2012. A key finding of that Review is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Live Register Numbers (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The value of the Live Register as an early indicator of unemployment trends is proven over the economic cycle. As an early indicator of a key metric of economic performance, it is important that the public and market analysts can have confidence in accuracy and independence of the Live Register data. I note that on occasion over the years some data, which form part of the monthly Live...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Anti-Poverty Strategy (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Inclusion Monitor, published by the Department, sets out the official indicators of poverty in Ireland as based on the CSO’s Survey of Income and Living Conditions. The main indicator is ‘consistent poverty’. It is measured by the overlap of two measures: those who are at-risk-of-poverty (below the threshold of 60 per cent of the median equivalised household...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme is designed to support second chance education. It enables eligible persons to pursue approved education courses that leads to a higher qualification than that already held and to continue to receive income support equivalent to the value of their prior social protection payment for the duration of a course of study, subject to conditions. BTEA...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Issues (28 Nov 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 €297.4 million on maternity benefit and adoptive benefit, in respect of a weekly average of 21,800 recipients. Budget 2014...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 30 together. The Pensions Act provides for a Funding Standard which applies to funded defined benefit pension schemes. This Standard requires defined benefit pension schemes to maintain sufficient resources to meet the liabilities of the scheme in the event of the wind up of the schemes. Where a scheme fails to satisfy the Funding Standard the...