Results 28,581-28,600 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobPath Implementation (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: JobPath is a new programme of employment activation intended to support people, who are long-term unemployed (over 12 months) or most at risk of becoming long term unemployed, to secure and sustain full-time paid employment or self-employment. The Department is currently in the process of finalising contracts with the aim of commencing the programme in mid-2015. The Department is working...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Budget 2012 introduced a number of reforms to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme. These included the planned phased reduction of the OFP scheme earnings disregard from €146.50 per week to €60 per week between January, 2012, and January, 2016, respectively. The OFP scheme income disregard was last reduced from €110 per week to €90 per week on 1 January,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Data (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department funds the operation of 50 Job Clubs located around the State. These Job Clubs are operated by 46 independent contractors who are, in the main, not for profit Local Development Companies (LDCs) and community based organisations. As Job Club providers are private limited companies they are entitled to be treated like any other employer for the purposes of JobBridge. In that...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions Payments (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: State pensions account for the single largest block of social welfare expenditure, and while expenditure on pensions is increasing because of demographic pressures, this is being successfully managed within the overall welfare budget. This year, the Department of Social Protection will spend an estimated €6.675 billion on pensions – 34.4% of all welfare expenditure and an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Local Employment Service (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There has been no reduction in the level of funding allocated for the Local Employment Service (LES) for 2015 and there has been no reduction in the funding allocation of any individual LES. The LES in question was actually granted some additional funding to cover an increase in overheads in 2015. The Deputy may be referring to a change to the funding of support grants that are provided to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 71,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015. I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand in the current market, including those in receipt of rent supplement. The Department is finalising a review of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently 69,884 lone parents being supported by the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme at an estimated cost to my Department of approximately €607 million in 2015. The purpose of the phased OFP scheme age change reforms that were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency and poverty among lone parents and to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Decisions on social welfare schemes are made by Deciding Officers (DOs) and Designated Persons (DPs). They determine entitlement in accordance with the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 (as amended) and regulations. DOs/DPs will assist customers in making their applications but, as a matter of law, the burden of providing evidence to support a claim rests with customers. It is worth...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The report in question: “Person or Number? 2” was produced by a group of NGOs dealing with migrants. It draws heavily on 35 case studies as its main source of information. It is important to be clear at the outset that these 35 cases are not a random sample of social welfare customers, but were drawn only from a selection of people who sought help from outside agencies.The 35...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Payments (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2015 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the farm assist scheme of €88.7...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Industrial Relations (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: I am glad to say that I have approved measures to facilitate engagement between the trustees of a pension scheme and groups representing the interests of pensioner and deferred scheme members. I recently signed the Occupational Pensions Schemes (Section 50 and 50B) (Amendments) Regulations, 2015 and approved Pensions Authority guidance to facilitate this change.The change to regulations will...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 71,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015. In the case of private rented accommodation, tenancy arrangements involve a contract between the landlord and the tenant. The Department has no contractual relationship with the landlord and tenant behaviour is a matter for the landlord in the first...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Delays (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The review and appeal processes in the Department of Social Protection are, at all times, predicated on the principles of fairness and natural justice. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements. Appeal...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 71,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015. I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand in the current market, including those in receipt of rent supplement in areas of Tipperary. The Department is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Payments (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2015 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the farm assist scheme of €88.7...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The payment of Rent Supplement is a matter between the Department and the tenant, subject to the tenant satisfying the eligibility criteria and payment issues directly to the tenant. Where the Department is notified of issues regarding a tenant not passing the Rent Supplement to the landlord, the Department can request the tenant to authorise payment directly to the landlord. This can only...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Unemployment Data (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The latest data on the long-term unemployed are from the CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) for Q3 2014. The number of long-term unemployed at that time was 139,000, down by over 60,000, or almost one third, from the level seen in 2012. The long term unemployment rate has fallen from a peak of 9.5% in 2012 to 6.4% in late 2014. The Pathways to WorkStrategy sets out a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 71,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015. I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand in the current market, including areas surrounding Dublin such as North Kildare. The Department is finalising a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 71,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015. The Department is finalising a review of the maximum rent limits and raising rent limits may not be the solution to the problem as it is likely to add to further rental inflation and could impact, not alone on rent supplement recipients, but also on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Reform (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The 2012 Report on Pension Charges undertaken by my Department, working with the Central Bank and the Pensions Authority, was the first comprehensive Government report on this subject. Since publication, a range of measures have been taken to deliver on the report’s recommendations and work is ongoing in this regard. For example, in line with the recommendation that the...