Results 28,041-28,060 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Applications (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is a full time student at the University of Limerick. As a mature student he may be entitled to receive a jobseekers payment for periods between academic years. However he is not entitled to a jobseekers payment for shorter periods between academic terms such as the Christmas period, the period for which an application was made on the 01/12/2014. An administrative...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (16 Dec 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 November 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: Labour Activation Projects (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The Pathways to Work policy statement provided for more regular and on-going engagement with jobseekers to enable them to return to employment through the provision of the most appropriate support interventions. In order to increase its activation capacity the Department examined approaches to complementing and augmenting its own internal capacity and that already provided under existing...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Sector Staff (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The Agencies that operate under the aegis of my Department are the Pensions Authority, the Citizens Information Board and the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman. These organisations are all Dublin based. Details of staff that have transferred to and from my Department’s offices in Waterford in each of the past five years are shown in the table below. Year To DSP Waterford From DSP...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: I will take the last point first. As the Senator is aware, the Government has announced a revised package regarding Irish Water. It is a much more modest and affordable system for water charges. It puts in place the potential for the vital investment that has to go into improving our water system, providing everybody with clean healthy water and providing for very significant capital...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The Senator is well aware that, as I said in direct response to his question, the PPS number is no longer required by Irish Water. However, if and when people wish to apply for a water conservation grant as with other payments from the Department of Social Protection or interaction with the Revenue Commissioners and the tax authorities in general, they would of course use their PPS number -...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: There was a question about the respite grant. The amount being spent on respite care was €752 million up to 2010 and that it will be almost €806 million in 2014, an increase of €53.9 million compared with when we came into office. That is an increase of 7.2%. As I am sure the Senator is aware, overall the number of caring recipients has increased from just over 76,000...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: To return to the issue of the overpayments, as the Senator is aware, because he has raised this issue on a number of occasions, if a person had an overpayment in the region of €1,500 and the recovery of the overpayment was restricted so that the net social welfare payment being made could not go below the supplementary welfare allowance rate, as is suggested in this particular...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: As a consequence, there will no longer be a need for Irish Water to be listed as a specified body in Schedule 5 to the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act for the purposes of using the PPS numbers. Therefore, the only time that a householder will have to provide his or her PPS number is when, and if, he or she is registering for the €100 water conservation grant to be paid through the...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The scheme set out provides, as I am sure Senators are aware, for full notification, advice and discussion between people and the social welfare officers dealing with their cases. I am happy to say that most people are more than happy to enter into arrangements in respect of repayments.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The Sinn Féin proposal provides for the repayment of overpayments by way of only €2 per week. As I said earlier, almost everybody who deals with the social welfare system is 100% honest. However, in the case of those people who may be dishonest, recouping money from them on behalf of other people who need social welfare income at the rate of, as suggested by Senator Cullinane,...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The proposal is also an insult to people such as pensioners in terms of the relatively modest amount they receive, which I wish as a country we had the resources to improve. We were able to partially restore the Christmas bonus by way of this year's budget. The reality of what Senator Cullinane is suggesting, even if from the best of motives, is that some people in the social welfare system...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: The Pensions Act does not prevent the outcome desired in the proposed recommendations Nos. 11 and 12. It is the trustees who decide how the provisions are implemented and this is the critical issue. I was a bit surprised, listening in particular to the representatives of Fianna Fáil. I noticed Senator O'Brien wanted to exclude the 2009 Act-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: He was a Member of the Dáil when it was debated.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: It is acknowledged by most of the deferred members-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: -----for whom I have great sympathy. I have sympathy for anybody suffering any reduction in their pension entitlements. It is a very great difficulty for many of the people involved. As has been said, when we had the discussion last year we set out to seek to protect in so far as possible defined benefit pension schemes, many of which have been in severe deficit for reasons which may have...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: -----did absolutely nothing-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: Sorry, they did absolutely nothing for the workers or to address the situation-----

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: As was their right the workers took a case to the European courts which vindicated their entitlements. This time last year I set out to see if a mediated negotiation could be achieved. The details of the negotiation will show the various arrangements which the Waterford Glass workers accepted. I thank the chairperson of the Labour Relations Commission, Mr. Kieran Mulvey, for his work in...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: -----and the Senator can read the history of what happened. I wish this never had to be and that all of these defined benefit schemes would have been significantly and healthily funded, but the purpose of the Act was to get those schemes over the line in so far as possible. The Irish aviation superannuation scheme has 5,000 currently retired members and approximately 5,000 workers. An...