Results 26,781-26,800 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Household Benefits Scheme (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 40 together. The overall concern of Government in Budget 2014 and previous Budgets has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. Expenditure on pensions at approx. €6.5 billion is the largest block of expenditure in the Department in the Estimate for 2014, representing approx. 33% of overall expenditure. Because of demographic changes...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Funding (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Community Employment (CE) schemes have achieved significant efficiencies over the past 2 years in their administration (circa €11m per annum). Where there have been individual cases that warranted further attention, these were reviewed at a local level and adjustments made where the circumstances permitted. The Department continues to monitor expenditure in line with the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Payments (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Since 2011, the monthly rates of child benefit have been standardised at €130 per month. The cost of increasing the rate of child benefit to the rates that applied in 2011 (including the re-introduction of certain grants payable in respect of multiple births) is estimated at €215 million in a full year. The cost of restoring the rate of child benefit to 50% of the 2011 rates is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Water Charges Administration (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Personal Public Service (PPS) number is a unique identifier for use in any transaction a person may have with specified public bodies or persons authorised by those bodies to act on their behalf. The legal basis of the PPS number is set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (as amended) and this legislation sets out the circumstances in which the PPS number can be used. It...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Respite Care Grant Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: It is estimated, based on the anticipated number of grants in 2015, that the cost of increasing the Respite Care Grant by €325, to €1,700 (the rate that existed prior to Budget 2013), would be approximately €29.6 million in a full year. The cost of restoring 50% of this would be approximately €14.8 million in a full year. Issues in relation to the rate of social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme supports 71,886 recipients at an estimated cost of €863 million in 2014. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, provided for the reduction, on a phased basis, of the OFP scheme income disregard for new and existing recipients of the payment. In line with the legislation, the income disregard was reduced from €110 per week to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Applications (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned applied for a basic social welfare allowance payment on 10 July 2014, which was disallowed as she did not satisfy the habitual residence condition. To date no application for a one-parent family payment, to which the habitual residency condition also applies, has been received by the Department.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Payments (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is not in receipt of a social welfare payment in their own right, however, another person is being paid a qualified adult increase of €124.80 (maximum increase for qualified adult) in respect of the person concerned. The person concerned has agreed to refund €10.00 per week by standing order in respect of an overpayment.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The maximum rent limit at which Rent Supplement is assessable to a client of this family composition residing in Celbridge, is €500 per calendar month.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Applications (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned was refused a back to education allowance as he failed to satisfy the requisite number of paid days on his jobseeker's allowance claim. A review of this decision was requested on the 19/09/14. The review was undertaken and the original decision was upheld. The outcome of the review was issued to the person concerned on 23/09/2014.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department operates a range of means tested schemes where, in order to qualify for the social assistance payment, the claimant must satisfy a means test. With social assistance payments, the maximum rate of entitlement is payable where a claimant’s means are nil. Where a claimant has means, the maximum rate of entitlement is reduced by reference to the means in any given case and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Unemployment Levels (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Official figures from the CSO show that unemployment is falling and is now approaching 11% compared to a peak of over 15% in mid 2012. In fact, according to the most recent information available from the Live Register the standardised unemployment rate (SUR) in August 2014 was 11.2%, down from 11.3% in July 2014. This equates to a monthly decrease of 2,900 (-0.1%) in the number of persons...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 131, 150 and 180 together. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 10 July 2014. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (30 Sep 2014)

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 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance was received from the person concerned on the 23rd May 2014. This application was referred to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors who did not consider that the child met the medical criteria for the allowance. A letter issued on the 26th August 2014 outlining the decision of the deciding officer to refuse the allowance. The person...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Appeals (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that a supplementary welfare allowance appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 24 September 2014, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. An invalidity pension appeal was also made by the person concerned and was registered...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The entitlement to the one parent family payment of the person concerned ceased on 2 July 2014 as her youngest child was over the age of 10 years. A review of this decision has been undertaken and it is confirmed that there is no entitlement to the one parent family payment. The person concerned is working and also in receipt of family income supplement. The FIS weekly rate of payment has...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan was published in January. It provides for over 28,000 programme opportunities for unemployed young people in 2014, as set out in the table attached as an appendix to this statement. This figure excludes some 24,000 places provided for young people through PLC courses and apprenticeships. These PLC and apprenticeship places, together with the wide...