Results 24,101-24,120 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Yes. The target is to deal with the back log of 14,000 appeals for this year. Last year's starting figure of 20,000 was reduced to 14,000. Our target is to reduce that figure significantly in this year. We are on course to achieve that target. The chief appeals officer has overseen staff training in making decisions on appeals. If a claimant presents full information with the initial...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I will deal with the youth guarantee question first. Before Christmas, the Department submitted the Irish application and statement on the scheme to the Commission. We await the reply. We also commissioned the OECD to report on how the youth guarantee might work in Ireland. The submission to the Commission and the OECD report will be published early next Tuesday afternoon, subject to...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Table No. 11 on page 19 of the documentation shows that we estimate expenditure of some €120 million on Tús in 2014.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In the case of community employment schemes, the average cost per payment to a participant is some €265.26, while the figure for Tús is approximately €273.95. The difference arises because participants in Tús are drawn from the ranks of the long-term unemployed who tend to be younger and have more dependants. This makes the average payment higher than that for...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: On the last point on pensions, the answer is no. However, we are required by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Committee of Public Accounts to carry out random checks of all headings of social welfare expenditure where people are in receipt of income support. The Comptroller and Auditor General's office has made clear this requirement in each of its reports in the past five to...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy knows, the number involved is significant.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In the context of the bereavement grant, the Department makes a number of payments to people who have unfortunately been bereaved. In the case of a widow or widower whose spouse has died, we continue to pay the social welfare pension of the person who has died for six weeks. That is worth far more to people than the bereavement grant.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In the case of a widow or widower with a dependent child or children, we pay a special grant of €6,000 on the death of his or her spouse. I am sure the Deputy will agree that this is a significant amount. As the Deputy said, we also make exceptional needs payments, dealt with on a case by case basis, to meet funeral and burial expenses. During the debate on the Bill I gave Deputies...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is responsible for the seniors alert scheme which provides grant support for the supply of equipment to enable older people without sufficient means to continue to live securely in their homes. The grant assistance is made available to community and voluntary groups registered with the Department. I understand organisations...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The answer is no in regard to some organisations. They have spoken to me about improvements in technology. From talking to them, I appreciate it is important that people have such contact. I stress that, in addition to the other pension payments, we pay an additional €7.70 a week to older people living on their own.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I am aware of that. As I said and acknowledge again, ensuring an adequate income for older people, widows and pensioners, has been a core principle across the political divide and I hope it is a very solid agreement among all political parties.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: On the Deputy's first question which was related to wages and salaries, he is correct that the reduction in costs is down to the Haddington Road agreement. It is also related to the employment control framework whereby the number of staff the Department can employ is limited by the Department of Finance on a reducing scale. Training and development and incidental expenses under subhead 3...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Subhead 7 relates, for instance, to the ESRI which operates a model in terms of economic income distribution in Ireland called SWITCH. It examines the social impact of budgets. We pay the ESRI for that service. On pensions policy reserve, about which I spoke, last year we commissioned the OECD to do some work. There are also ongoing reviews of pension fees and costs to pension scheme...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Yes. The programme for Government contained a commitment to use, if necessary, external resources, which does not relate simply to the private sector but could refer to the not-for-profit sector, voluntary organisations or community organisations. The Department already outsources a significant amount of work. I referred to the contract for An Post that we signed before Christmas, which is...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: We will not know until we get the return of the tenders because, essentially, we will ask people to provide employment support services specifically with the idea of getting people into work. One example we have currently is the local employment service, which involves locally established companies. There are a number of those around the country. We outsource social welfare clients to them...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Unemployment Data (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In the year to quarter 3, 2013, the long-term unemployment rate declined from 8.9% to 7.6% and the youth unemployment rate declined from over 31% to 26.5%. EUROSTAT estimates that this fell further to under 25% by the end of 2013. New data for 2013 is expected to be available from the Central Statistics Office in late February. The overall unemployment rate, per the CSO, was 12.4% at the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Unemployment Data (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: There has been progress. Yesterday, for instance, I opened the new Intreo office in Athlone and later in the day I opened the new Intreo office in Longford. They have been well-received in those areas, as they have been throughout the country. Deputy O'Dea was present when I opened the Limerick office late last year. Anyone with an unbiased mind will see that what has happened has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Unemployment Data (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I gave the Deputy the statistics on long-term unemployment at the beginning of my reply. Perhaps he missed that part. The long-term unemployment rate fell from 8.9% at the beginning of 2013 to 7.6% at the end of the year.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Unemployment Data (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: People in long-termed unemployment, who are identified as being more than one year out of work, are the most difficult to place in employment. The reduction in the rate of long-term unemployment - although still too high, it is falling - is an indication of the Department's success in this regard. In regard to the numbers going on from JobBridge to secure further employment, the figure of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Unemployment Data (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: These highly-skilled people were unable to obtain employment because the Government of which Deputy O'Dea was a member never prioritised getting them into work.