Results 26,821-26,840 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

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

Joan Burton: As a result of new information received by the Department the rate of Rent Supplement has been increased to include arrears as an exceptional measure due to the fact this family have extenuating circumstances.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The back to education allowance (BTEA) programme is designed to support certain recipients of social welfare payments to pursue courses of education with the objective of improving their chances of accessing work. To qualify, a customer must satisfy a number of conditions such as, inter alia, being a certain age, in receipt of a prescribed social welfare payment for a specified time period,...

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

Joan Burton: The figures for Nutgrove Social Welfare Local Office that the Deputy has requested are as follows: Year No. 2013 26 2014 (to date) 9

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

Joan Burton: The person concerned has been assessed with means of €135 per week against her normal one parent family payment entitlement of €247.60 leaving a balance of €112.60 due to her. The means calculation is based on her receiving maintenance payments of €303 per month and the fact that her mortgage is being paid by her former spouse. The person concerned appealed this...

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

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal by the person has been withdrawn on the basis of a revised decision by Invalidity Pension Section on 26 September 2014 which was favourable to the person concerned. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Agencies (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: I am aware that the Deputy has clarified that his question relates to the statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection. These bodies are the Pensions Authority, the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman, the Citizens Information Board, and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Details requested by the Deputy in relation to these bodies are outlined in the table....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobsPlus Scheme (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees from those who are long term on the live register. JobsPlus is biased in favour of those who are longer term unemployed. It provides employers with two levels of payment: €7,500 over two years where a jobseeker is recruited following 12-24 months on the live register and €10,000 for those...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: Child benefit is a monthly universal payment made to families with children, which assists all parents with the cost associated with raising children. The Government is conscious that child benefit is an important source of income for all families. Child benefit is paid to around 616,000 families in respect of some 1.17 million children, with an estimated expenditure of around €1.9...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Administration (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: The free travel scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by some 90 private operators in various parts of the country for those eligible under the scheme. There are currently in excess of 780,000 customers with direct eligibility. The Department appreciates the important role that free travel plays in promoting social inclusion...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 10th July 2014. This application has now been processed and she was notified on the 26th September 2014 that DCA is being awarded in her case.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: The information requested by the Deputy in respect of total number of recipients of each of respite care grant, fuel allowance, and back to school clothing and footwear allowance are collated annually for inclusion in the Statistical Information of Social Welfare Services. With respect to recipients of family income supplement and back to education allowance the total number of person in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: My Department is responsible for expenditure under Vote 37 (formerly Vote 38 in 2011) and the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). The Department’s allocated income and expenditure budget for both Vote 37 and the SIF is as provided by way of the annual Estimate process (and supplementary estimate process where required) as voted by Dáil Éireann. The details of the Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: Participants on the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) are paid a fuel allowance where they were in receipt of the allowance prior to commencing on the scheme and where they continue to satisfy the conditions for that payment. A person who was not in receipt of a fuel allowance prior to commencement on any of the Department’s work placements schemes cannot qualify for that payment during their...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 57 together. The costs associated with the Youth Guarantee will be funded, in the first instance, by the Irish Exchequer. However, it is expected that a number of these Programmes will meet ESF eligibility criteria and they have been included in the Youth Employment Initiative application for Ireland. This will permit EU funding to be drawn down in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Data (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare and Pension Act 2013 (Sections 13 and 14) were commenced on 1st August 2014 by reference to SI No. 308 of 2014. Since the commencement of the recovery of certain benefits and assistance scheme (RBA), 65 cases have been settled with a value of €183,437.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department’s main support for welfare recipients returning to work is the family income supplement (FIS), an in-work support which targets low-paid employees with children. FIS is designed both to prevent child and family poverty and to offer a financial incentive to move from welfare to work. FIS is paid to some 44,000 families in respect of some 97,000 children. Expenditure on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (1 Oct 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: Pension Provisions (1 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: A member of a defined benefit pension scheme has an option to ether transfer their pension rights to another pension scheme or to leave their pension rights in the pension scheme attached to their former employment. If a scheme member elects to leave the pension rights in the scheme, these pension rights are preserved and revalued on an annual basis by the annual rate of CPI or 4% whichever...

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: The Deputy asked whether I had met the Taoiseach. I met the Taoiseach, along with the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputies Noonan and Howlin, briefly on Monday following a Cabinet sub-committee meeting. As the Deputy probably knows, there are a lot of Cabinet sub-committee meetings on a Monday. What I was focused on and remain focused on in regard to this...

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: -----which are of international importance and which attract a huge number of visitors to Kilmainham on a weekly and a yearly basis, remaining very much part of Ireland's cultural offering. A range of people need to be members of the IMMA board, including, obviously, people with experience and a background in the arts, but also people with business experience. More than that, I have never...