Results 31,881-31,900 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Other Questions: Pension Provisions (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy should see whether she could apply for the non-contributory.

Other Questions: Pension Provisions (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The marriage bar was done away with when Ireland joined the EEC when a range of measures around equality came into law in Ireland. Ireland has the homemaker's credit, which is quite generous and which I was involved in introducing in 1994. This particular lady is entitled to apply for a non-contributory pension. If one looks for an assessment of what would be her best way of maximising...

Other Questions: Pension Provisions (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The issue here, as people are aware from other questions, is that the cost would be a very significant annual cost and we do not as yet have the resources as a country to be in a position to fund what it would cost.

Other Questions: Poverty Data (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Research shows that being at work reduces the poverty rate for lone parents by three quarters, or 75%, compared to people who do not work. A recent study for the Department shows that lone parent families are particularly vulnerable to living in jobless households. A key way to tackle poverty then is to get parents back to work. The ongoing one-parent family payment reforms and the new...

Other Questions: Poverty Data (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Poverty is something we must fight against and work to eliminate, which is what the Government and I are doing. The critical way to help people out of poverty is to get them into employment and to get good jobs. This is why we will be raising the minimum wage. I know it does not affect a huge number of people but it affects about 75,000 people in work. I hope that we will also look in the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Delays (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Carers receive significant income supports from the Department - among the highest rates of income support in Europe. The income disregard and means test for carers is the most generous within the social welfare system. Furthermore, the respite care grant is paid to carers with no requirement to satisfy a means test. A total of €822 million is provided for carers payments in 2015....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 65,000 people at a cost of €298 million in 2015. Over 13,700 rent supplement tenancies have been awarded this year, of which almost 4,300 are in Dublin, showing that landlords are accommodating significant numbers under the scheme. A review of the rent limits...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The Free Travel Scheme permits customers to travel for free on most CIE public transport services, LUAS and a range of services offered by up to 90 private operators in various parts of the country. Free travel is also available on cross border journeys to and from Northern Ireland. Additionally, customers aged 66 years and over can travel for free on journeys within Northern Ireland....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Community Employment Supervisors are not employed by the Department of Social Protection. These Supervisors are employees of private companies in the community and voluntary sector and are not part of the public sector. The State is not responsible for funding pension arrangements for employees of private companies, even where those companies are reliant on State funding in whole or in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Housing Provision (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The primary responsibility for provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with local authorities. The Department’s role with regard to people who are homeless is mainly income maintenance. Under the social welfare system, homeless people have entitlement to the full range of social welfare schemes, including supplementary welfare allowance (SWA), subject to the normal...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Data (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Child benefit is a universal payment made to families with children. It assists those families with the cost associated with raising children. Child benefit is payable at the monthly rate of €135 per child and is in payment to over 615,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children. The expenditure on child benefit in 2014 was €1.91 billion. The estimated expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Activation Projects (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: This project was one of 14 disability activation projects (DACT), in the Border, Midlands & West region, which were jointly funded (€7m) by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department of Social Protection (DSP), from the end of 2012 to April 2015. The objective of the DACT project was to explore a variety of routes towards ensuring that people with disabilities were...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Respite Care Grant Payments (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The Respite Care Grant (RCG) is an annual non means-tested payment of €1,375 made to carers by the Department. Full time carers who are not in receipt of a carers payment from the Department are also entitled to the grant. The estimated cost of the RCG, in 2015, is in excess of €124 million in respect of over 90,000 recipients of care. Any increase in the rate of the RCG...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 65,000 people at a cost of €298 million in 2015. Over 13,700 rent supplement tenancies have been awarded this year, of which almost 4,300 are in Dublin, showing that significant numbers are being accommodated under the scheme. A review of the rent limits...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Sector Staff Redundancies (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: Terms and conditions in relation to the employment of staff of State agencies is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin T.D. Therefore the issue of the terms of any redundancies for these staff would be a matter in the first instance for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (30 Sep 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 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure of almost €89 million on the farm...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The Government is anxious to facilitate increasing participation in employment for persons with a disability. In addition to basic income support, the Department provides a wide range of work related supports for people with disabilities which play an important role in supporting participation by people with disabilities in the labour force. These include the wage subsidy scheme, the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Tax Credits (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The primary purpose of PRSI credits is to secure social welfare benefits and pensions of employees by covering gaps in insurance where they are not in a position to pay PRSI. This includes periods of unemployment and illness, as well as periods spent participating in certain education or training courses. The class at which a contributor paid his or her last PRSI contribution determines...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Respite Care Grant Payments (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The Respite Care Grant (RCG) is an annual payment of €1,375 for carers who look after certain people in need of full-time care and attention. The payment is made regardless of the carer's means but is subject to certain conditions, one of which is that the period of full-time care and attention must last for at least six months (which must include the first Thursday in June when the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Strategies (30 Sep 2015)

Joan Burton: The current Pathways to WorkStrategy covers the period to end 2015. It set out a significant process of reform and modernisation of Ireland’s of Public Employment Services and has contributed substantially to the improvement in activation processes in Ireland, as recently acknowledged by the OECD. I am pleased to say that targets set out in Pathways to Work in relation both to...