Results 23,541-23,560 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

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

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 81,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided €403 million in 2013. The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short term income assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer.Revised rent limits under the rent supplement scheme have come into force with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Rates (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Employer PRSI is payable on earnings at the rate of 10.75% in respect of weekly earnings in excess of €356 and, from 1 January 2014, at 8.5% on weekly earnings of €356 or less.As part of the 2011 Jobs Initiative, the Minister for Finance announced the halving of the 8.5% rate of employer PRSI to 4.25%, as a means of helping job creation and improving labour cost competitiveness,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Projects (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: All of the bodies referred to are supportive of the labour market activation measures and institutional reforms being undertaken by Ireland. Moreover, while they have on occasions raised questions about the pace at which reforms are being enacted, the most recent troika review has acknowledged that the main reforms – the roll-out of INTREO, the P300 project to reallocate 300 staff of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Official Languages Act 2003 Compliance (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection is committed to providing a quality customer service in both Irish and English. Since 2007, an Irish Language Scheme for the Department, as required under the Official Languages Act 2003, has been is in place. A new Irish Language Scheme is currently being drafted and there have been on-going discussions with the Department of Arts, Heritage and the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The General Register Office (GRO) currently supplies details of all deaths registered by them to the Death Event Publication Service (DEPS) which is the responsibility of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The DEPS is a ‘publish and subscribe’service where notifications of all the approximately 30,000 deaths registered annually by the GRO are published. Relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Payments (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 33 together. 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. Farm assist recipients retain all the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: On 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 making such...

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

Joan Burton: I will be proposing a Committee Stage amendment to the Social Welfare and Pensions (No 2) Bill 2013, which is currently before the Seanad, in relation to some aspects of this Judgment. The question of what guidance should be provided to front-line staff on this issue is still under consideration in the Department.

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

Joan Burton: My colleague, the Minister for Finance, announced in Budget 2014 the replacement, from 1 January next, of the one-parent family tax credit by new single person child carer tax credit. The Finance Bill (No. 2), 2013, currently before the Dáil, provides for the new credit which will have the same value as the current tax credit and will be available to the primary carer of a child. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: Some 410,000 customers will receive the fuel allowance of €20 per week for 26 weeks from October to April, at a cost of €223 million. The fuel allowance is paid to those in receipt of long-term jobseekers, one-parent family payment, disability allowance, invalidity pension and some people in receipt of the State pension. The allowance is subject to a means test and is paid...

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

Joan Burton: The record of mutual commitment, introduced in line with the Government’s Pathways to Work policy, includes requirements for jobseekers and for the Department of Social Protection. The Department of Social Protection is committed to providing comprehensive employment support and income supports to jobseekers. The Department's goal is to help our clients in two ways; first by...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The Revenue Commissioners are the primary collection agents in relation to income tax and outstanding PRSI for the self-employer. Income tax and PRSI payable by a self-employed contributor is treated as one aggregate sum in accordance with the provisions of Section 23(4) of the 2005 Social Welfare Consolidation Act. For that reason, it is not possible to separate payments to Revenue between...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Rebates (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the redundancy payments scheme is to compensate workers, under the Redundancy Payments Acts, for the loss of their jobs by reason of redundancy. Compensation is based on the worker’s length of reckonable service and reckonable weekly remuneration, subject to a ceiling of €600 per week. It is the responsibility of the employer to pay statutory redundancy to all...

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

Joan Burton: Following the integration of certain FÁS services within the Department of Social Protection, the Department has assumed responsibility for public employment services in Ireland. This service includes EURES (European Employment Service) which is a European wide network of all the public employment services in the European Union and the European Economic Area. Under EU regulations,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (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: Budget 2013 Impact (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: My Department is currently preparing an analysis of the Budget 2014 tax and welfare packages. This Social Impact Assessment will include an analysis of the distributive and poverty impacts of these changes on different family types as well as the impact on at risk of poverty levels. Social impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology which uses a tax/welfare simulation model developed...

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

Joan Burton: The detail requested by the Deputy cannot be prepared in the time available. It will be provided directly to the officer concerned in due course.

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

Joan Burton: Where individuals exit the workforce prior to pension age they may seek the support of either the jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance schemes. Jobseeker's benefit is a weekly payment to people out of work and covered by social insurance. If a person does not qualify for jobseeker’s benefit they may qualify for means tested jobseeker's allowance. The Revised...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Education and Training Provision (28 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection together with the Department of Education and Skills provides a range of supports to enable jobseekers to pursue educational, training and development opportunities. Of the measures open to the Department of Social Protection, the Training & Education Support Grant and the Technical Assistance Training Scheme provide cash resources to a jobseeker...

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

Joan Burton: In order to consider the award of a qualified adult allowance a deciding officer must satisfy themselves as to the current income of that person. Where the qualified adult is self-employed, a notice of assessment for a previous year is considered as part of the overall assessment of current income. While the income from the previous 12 months is a useful indicator to estimate the likely...