Results 30,261-30,280 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Eligibility (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: Disability allowance is a means tested scheme and the way means are assessed is laid down in social welfare legislation. In summary, any income, with some exceptions, belonging to the person and his or her spouse/partner or co-habitant is assessable as means for disability allowance purposes. When the means of the person concerned were assessed, which were derived from his spouse’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received applications for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 9th April 2015. The application was awarded on 5th June 2015 and the first payment is due to issue to the bank on 18th June 2015. Any arrears of allowance due (less any overlapping social welfare payment and/or outstanding overpayment) will issue in due course. The person in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The application for carer’s allowance in respect of the person concerned was awarded on 2nd June 2015 and the first payment was issued to the post office on 4th June 2015. Arrears of allowance due from 5th March 2015 to 3rd June 2015 were issued to the post office on the 2nd June 2015. The person in question was notified on the 2nd of June of this decision.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Work Family Dividend Scheme (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The Back to Work Family Dividend (BTWFD) scheme gives financial support to people with qualified children who are in or take up employment or self-employment and as a result stop claiming a jobseeker's payment or a one-parent family payment (OFP) on or after 5 January 2015. While the person concerned completed the BTWFD application form in January 2015, she continued to be in receipt of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The 2003 IORPS (Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision) Directive 2003/41/EC applies to all occupational pension schemes in Ireland including Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) schemes and was transposed into Irish law in September 2005. It established basic EU requirements for occupational pension funds and their supervision. The EU Commission published its...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on 12 December 2014. The application was with a social welfare investigative officer for assessment of the level of care being provided, assessment of means and confirmation that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are satisfied. The investigative officer has...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The number of claims received and the cost of the DSP dental benefit scheme, during the years between 2010 and 2014, are detailed in the table. YEAR CLAIMS COST (€ M) 2010 388,938 25.01 2011 272,865 9.15 2012 270,602 8.93 2013 298,658 9.85 2014 310,350 10.24

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The number of claims received and cost for the DSP optical benefit scheme, for each of the years 2010 to 2014, are detailed in the table. YEAR CLAIMS COST (€M) 2010 163,378 6.20 2011 135,593 3.29 2012 139,805 3.39 2013 141,972 3.45 2014 149,026 3.61

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Treatment Benefit Scheme Administration (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The costs associated with restoring the full range of benefits available under the treatment benefit scheme, to those which applied prior to the changes introduced in budget 2010, would depend on the rates agreed with contractors for the services they provide and on the number of claims received from qualified customers. The total cost of the treatment benefit scheme in 2009 was...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Expenditure (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: Expenditure on the one parent family payment scheme is estimated to be €607million in 2015 with almost 70,000 recipients. However, despite considerable investment, the scheme has not succeeded in preventing lone parents from being significantly more at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole. In 2004, at the height of the economic boom, lone parents were more than...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Payments (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: Persons who work on a casual basis and claim a jobseeker's payment for the days that they are not employed are required to submit dockets from their employer on a weekly basis; persons working for 4 or more days in any week are not entitled to receive any jobseeker's payment for that particular week. The person concerned applied for jobseeker's allowance from 5thMarch 2015 on the basis that...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The person concerned attended the Intreo Centre Ballyfermot on 1/5/2015 to enquire about participating on a Momentum Course. The qualifying criteria for participation on a Momentum course requires the claimant to have 312 paid days on their relevant jobseekers claim in the previous 18 months, however the person concerned has just 249 paid days currently. It is open to the claimant to reapply...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The appeal of the person concerned against a refusal of carer's allowance (CA) has been allowed and the application was awarded on the 5th June 2015. The first payment of CA is due to issue to the post office on the 11th June 2015. The arrears of allowance due from the 30th October 2014 to 10th June 2015 were issued by cheque on the 5th of June 2015. The person in question was notified of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Data (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The Live Register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time workers (those who work up to 3 days a week), seasonal and casual workers entitled to jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's allowance. Unemployment is measured officially by the Central Statistics Office's Quarterly National Household Survey. A person is unemployed if, in the week before the survey, they were...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The existence of the State pension (transition) is historical and relates to the qualifying age for State pension (contributory) which, up until the early 1970s, was 70 years of age. State pension transition (known then as the Retirement Pension) was introduced at that time to bridge the gap for employees who had to retire at 65. The qualifying age for State pension (contributory) was...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: With regards to child care, the delivery and expansion of child care services is the responsibility of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. My Department in conjunction with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs introduced a range of child care measures in Budget 2013 and Budget 2014 to assist lone parents to enter, or to re-join the workforce, namely the after-school child...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: State pensions account for the single largest block of social welfare expenditure. This year, the Department of Social Protection will spend an estimated €6.675 billion on pensions – 34.4% of all welfare expenditure. Maintaining the rate of the State pension and other core payments is critical in protecting older people from poverty. With increases in life expectancy,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit Applications (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 1stApril 2015, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: Carer's allowance (CA) is a payment made to persons who are providing full time care and attention to certain elderly people or to people with disabilities and whose income falls below certain limits. The principal conditions for receipt of the allowance are that full time care and attention is required and being provided, and the means test which applies is satisfied. The person in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Payments (9 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The person in question has been awarded a disability allowance payment with effect from 30 April 2014. First payment was on 29 April 2015 and any arrears due have also issued.