Results 28,961-28,980 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Deputy Coppinger asked me earlier where I would be on International Women's Day. I will be in Maynooth university with organisations like Trócaire, celebrating the achievements of women in developing countries in building economic independence and small, medium and large businesses for themselves and their families.

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Deputy Coppinger's colleagues might be interested to know that I also hope to celebrate with An Cosán, a marvellous organisation based in Tallaght providing education for the community. Last year when I met Madame Lagarde, the head of the IMF - Deputy Coppinger may object to this - I brought women with me who are involved in business in areas like carers, associations, education----

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: ---and some of the leading women doctors working in this country. Going back to my comment about the women who are my heroes, the person who probably spoke best was the woman who, along with several others, had spent their lives working as carers, caring for individuals from their families and communities---

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Christine Lagarde spent a lot of time with women telling their stories of what it is like to be a woman in modern Ireland. It is important that women share their stories so I hope this International Women's Day that women in Ireland will get the same opportunities. Certainly at the events I am going to I hope to be able to celebrate with women who are successful and committed to this...

Order of Business (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: It is proposed to take No. a18, motion re Standing Order 107J; No. 18, Revised Estimates for Public Services 2015 - Votes 1 to 40, inclusive, back from committee; and No. 3, Gender Recognition Bill 2014 [Seanad] - Second Stage (resumed). It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. a18 shall be decided without debate; that, in the case of No.18, Votes 1 to 40,...

Order of Business (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: I suppose it is a little like Rip Van Winkle. Did the Deputy miss all of the debates at the time the budget was announced?

Order of Business (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Perhaps he was very busy elsewhere. However, there were very extensive debates.

Order of Business (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy should calm down and relax. Dáil reform was championed in the previous Dáil by the Deputy's then party leader and former Taoiseach, former Deputy Brian Cowen. We decided to engage in detailed discussions at the committees on all of the Estimates. As the then finance spokesperson, I listened to endless discussions on how we should debate and examine outcomes....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Review (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Community employment (CE) is the largest employment programme administered by the Department. It aims to enhance the employability and mobility of disadvantaged and unemployed persons by providing work experience and training opportunities for them within their communities. In addition, it helps long-term unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of...

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

Joan Burton: I am very happy to confirm my announcement this week that I will be extending eligibility to the one-parent family payment (OFP) to lone parents who are also eligible for the half-rate carer’s allowance (CA) payment, until their youngest child is aged 16 years. This acknowledges the special situation for lone parents who are caring and, in particular, acknowledges the commitment of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: First Steps is not a new JobBridge - it is a developmental internship scheme for young, disadvantaged jobseekers, for example, very early school leavers or young people with a prior history of addiction problems. The objective of First Stepsis to encourage employers to open their doors to such young people; to give them the opportunity to learn and develop basic work and social skills while...

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

Joan Burton: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. The 2015 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the farm assist scheme of €88.7 million. All recipients of farm assist have benefitted from the Christmas Bonus paid in December 2014. In addition, all farm assist families with...

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

Joan Burton: The recommendations arising out of the Critical Review on the Pensions Boardwere approved by Government in April 2013 and were provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2013. It was recommended that the governance structure of the Board be restructured as follows: - Oversight of the then Pensions Board to be undertaken by a three person body called the Pensions Authority consisting...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: In January this year, the Department published the social impact assessment of the main welfare and tax measures for 2015, including the new water charges package. Social impact assessment is an evidence-based methodology which estimates the likely effects of welfare and tax policies on households across income levels and social groups. The assessment was prepared by the Department,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Administration (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: JobBridge has made significant progress since its introduction in July 2011. To date, over 37,700 internship placements having commenced, there are currently 6,140 interns on the programme and a further 1,129 positions are advertised on the JobBridge website. Participation both as a host organisation and as an intern on the scheme is voluntary. The Department has a range of monitoring and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Each year in the Department decisions are made on approximately two million claims across a range of schemes. The deciding officers (DOs) and Designated Persons (DPs) who make these decisions are very conscious of their obligations to customers. Every effort is made to ensure that people receive any entitlements due to them and that information and services are provided in a timely and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: In line with the recent Statement of Government Priorities, the Government has recently decided to proceed with work to develop a roadmap and timeline for the introduction of a new, universal, supplementary workplace retirement saving scheme. Development of this roadmap for consideration by Government will be progressed by the establishment of a high level Universal Retirement Savings...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: A breakdown of the average time taken by the Department to award applications for social welfare payments, as of January 2015, is detailed in Table 1 below. The processing times vary by scheme. This principally reflects the fact that the legal eligibility conditions - such as means tests, family circumstances and medical status - are more complex for some schemes than for others. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Eligibility (5 Mar 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: One-Parent Family Payments (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 70,000 recipients of the One Parent Family Payment and it is expected that the scheme will cost €607 million in 2015. Before I introduced the reforms, the One Parent Family Payment was a passive scheme with limited engagement by the State with recipients. For many lone parents, most of whom are women, this has meant long-term social welfare...