Results 28,441-28,460 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Tús and Gateway are work placement initiatives which aim to provide short-term work opportunities for those who are unemployed and on the live register for more than a year with respect to Tús and two years for Gateway. The eligibility criteria for both initiatives are in line with the Government’s policies on focusing resources of maintaining the work readiness and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Question Nos. 186 and 187 together. Photography services are used, in conjunction with some press releases and conferences, to communicate the Department’s initiatives, schemes and services to customers and to the regional and national media. The total photography costs incurred by my Department for the period 1998 to 2010 are set out in the table below. No details...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Relations Contracts Data (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection did not hire public relations firms during the years 2007 to 2010, and accordingly, no costs were incurred. The Department’s Press Office generally deals with media queries and public relations matters.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 1 December 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: Domiciliary Care Allowance (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on 8 December 2014. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Following receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made by a Deciding Officer and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take 10 weeks to process an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Data (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The only Working Age scheme with a specified differential rate of payment for those under 25 is Jobseekers’ Allowance. A breakdown of the number of recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance under the age of 25 as at 31 December 2014by age is detailed in the tabular statement. Number of Recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance aged under 25 as at 1December 2014. Age Number of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Applications (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: It was brought to the attention of the Department by the Deputy in Parliamentary Question No 63 of 27 November 2014 that the client concerned was seeking an increase in Rent Supplement as rent was being increased from €700 to €800 per month. Subsequently the client was requested to provide the Department with an up to date Rent Supplement application form and lease agreement...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Living Alone Allowance (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Expenditure on pensions is the largest block of expenditure in the Department, representing about a third of overall expenditure. Because of demographic changes the Department’s spending on older people is increasing year on year. Accordingly, the overall concern of the Government in Budget 2015 and previous Budgets has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Payments (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Where a carer receives a paid public holiday for a day which is not a normal scheduled working day, s/he is not considered to have exceeded the 15 hour threshold for the purposes of qualifying for Carer’s Benefit. The Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation has responsibility for the operation of the legislation to which the deputy refers and has advised that in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The provisions governing the assessment of means for disability allowance (DA) purposes are contained in Part 1 & 2 of Schedule 3 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. Where a person is married, the means of the spouse are taken into account as well as the claimant's own means. All DA recipients are treated equally in relation to this provision, regardless of their specific...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 800,000 people in Ireland in receipt of free travel at an annual cost of €77 million per annum. The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66 must be in receipt of a qualifying payment in order to qualify for the scheme. The qualifying payments for those aged under 66...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 21 January 2015. 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: Registration of Births (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Registrar General is responsible for the management and control of the Civil Registration Service. This includes the provision and maintenance of the Civil Registration Computer System. Prior to December 2014 the Managed Services required to support the Civil Registration Computer System was provided by an external service provider at a substantial cost to the taxpayer. In 2014 it was...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Investigations (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: This matter is the subject of ongoing investigation in my Department. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the likely outcome of these investigations at this stage.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department has no record of overpayment deductions for this client as information required to determine and process a possible overpayment remains outstanding. The Department will now correspond again with the client to request the outstanding information. If no reply is received the Department will progress the overpayment process based on information to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Operation (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The issues raised by the person concerned related to his employment, his employer in this case being the Community Employment (CE) sponsor. The Department has no role in relation to the employment of staff participating on CE. As provided for in the Contract Agreement between the Department and a CE Sponsoring Body; CE employers are at all times an independent contractor for all purposes and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Payments (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Self-employed persons are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4% which entitles them to access long-term benefits such as State pension (contributory) and widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension (contributory) as well as maternity benefit, adoptive benefit and guardians payment (contributory). Self-employed workers may also access social welfare supports by establishing...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Refunds (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications for PRSI refunds are processed as quickly as possible. I am aware of the backlog in claims for PRSI refunds and my Department is actively working on reducing this backlog. If the Deputy has a particular case that he wishes to query I would be happy to have my officials...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Water Conservation Grant (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection will administer, on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, a €100 water conservation grant for households that complete a valid response to Irish Water’s customer registration process. The grant will be paid to the registered householders annually, in respect of their primary dwellings, with the first...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Places (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department hopes to commence rolling out a new Health and Social Care Programme for CE participants during the course of this year. This programme will ensure participants have access to qualifications in the health and social care sector in order to take up employment opportunities in this area and to support local service delivery. The Department has been consulting with key...