Results 30,561-30,580 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: In recent weeks I have met representatives from the non-governmental organisations in the housing sector and lone-parent representative groups. As I said to colleagues earlier, I am looking at all the social welfare payments in the context of the budget. Last year for lone parents and all parents I was happy to be able to increase child benefit and bring in the back to work family dividend...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: In 2004, at the height of the economic boom, the risk of consistent poverty for lone parents was more than four and a half times that of the population as a whole. In 2015, the risk of consistent poverty for lone parents is two and a half times that of the rest of the population. Therefore, the risk of poverty has halved in relative terms. It should also be noted that the latest CSO...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: Again, I urge the Deputy, if she believes this has had a negative effect on lone parents whom she knows and caused a risk to their housing situation, to encourage those people to go to the community welfare service, where a protocol is in operation to assist them. This service has already assisted approximately 2,000 families on a one-to-one basis. In regard to the changes in social...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the one-parent family payment age reforms that were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012 is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency. The reforms aim to improve lone parents' access to the Department's range of education, training and employment support programmes in order to assist them in securing employment and financial independence for themselves...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: In the North, the rest of the UK and Scandinavia, the age is five years or younger.

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: In our system, the age is seven years. There is a lengthy seven year transition period up to 14 years of age. The final phase of the one-parent family changes will happen in July when the maximum age limit of the youngest child at which a one-parent family payment per seceases will be reduced to seven years for all recipients. They will then transfer into a seven year transitional period up...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department's system is changing. Traditionally, departmental officials did not meet people on a one-to-one basis to support them. In the two years of the changes to date, approximately 19,000 lone parents have entered the transitional arrangement, so we now have a great deal of experience of how it works. People are called into group interviews to make them aware of the Department's...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: -----than they used to be. It is simple - a lone parent working 19 hours on a minimum wage plus FIS and the back to work family dividend, which I just introduced to help all parents who were returning to work, would receive an income of approximately €400 compared with a much lower income on a lone parent payment only where he or she had only one child.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Review (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The free travel scheme provides free travel for those with eligibility on the main public and private transport services which includes road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann, Luas and services provided by over 90 private transport operators. There are currently approximately 828,000 customers with direct...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: I welcome the considerable debate generated by this reform, which is long overdue. As I said earlier, despite committing extensive funding to lone parent payments since the 1970s, lone parents remain the most at-risk-of-poverty, and their children are at a high risk of poverty. For too long, significant numbers of lone parents have been typecast, and confined to social welfare dependency....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: There are approximately 360,000 self-employed contributors including business owners, contractors, taxi drivers and farmers. These self-employed pay PRSI at the class S rate of 4%. This entitles them to access long-term benefits including State pension (contributory). A combined employer and employee PRSI rate of 14.75% is paid in respect of most employees, who can access the full range of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The official measure of poverty as used in the national social target for poverty reduction is consistent poverty - the combination of at-risk-of-poverty and basic deprivation. The rate of consistent poverty in 2013 was 8.2%, which was not a statistically significant change on 2012. The 2014 results are expected at the end of 2015. One of the component measures of consistent poverty is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The part-time job incentive scheme is a scheme, which allows people who are long-term unemployed to take up part-time employment for less than 24 hours per week and receive a special weekly income supplement. The scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in 1986 and extended nationwide in 1988. The scheme was seen as a form of enticement to those who lacked an incentive to take up employment....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Sale of Aer Lingus (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: I am very aware of the issues and negative consequences arising from the funding difficulties in this scheme. Indeed, many defined benefit pension schemes have encountered funding difficulties in recent years and are working with the Pensions Authority to respond to those difficulties in a manner which will secure the sustainability of pension provision for scheme members. A number of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Ombudsman's Reports (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: I welcome the publication of the Office of the Ombudsman 2014 annual report. The Ombudsman provides a valuable and essential service in ensuring that all citizens have an independent and accessible channel to raise complaints about State services. The number of complaints received in respect of the Department of Social Protection (DSP), increased to 898 in 2014 from 491 in 2013. However...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: Expenditure on the One Parent Family Payment (OFP) scheme is estimated to be €607 million 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Payments (24 Jun 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 the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2015 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure of almost €89 million on the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The Pensions Act 1990 provides for the regulation of occupational pension schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts. The Pensions Authority is an independent regulator responsible for supervising the compliance of pension schemes with the Act. Section 18 provides that the Authority has the power to carry out investigations into alleged breaches of the Pensions Act. Neither I nor my...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: The issue of marriages of convenience or so-called 'sham marriages' is a complex one. The right to marry is a basic right and marriage, as an institution, has particular protection under the Constitution. The State’s duty is to protect the institution of marriage in legislation. EU citizens and their families have the right to move and reside freely within the territories of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Jun 2015)

Joan Burton: In certain circumstances it is possible for a person to be engaged in insurable employment or self-employment and still satisfy the unemployment condition. One of these circumstances is where the person has what is defined as ‘subsidiary employment’. The provisions for subsidiary employment are set out in social welfare regulations. Subsidiary employments are employments that...