Results 32,621-32,640 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: Jobseeker's allowance provides means tested income support to persons subject to the contingency of involuntary unemployment. It is a fundamental qualifying condition of the scheme that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking full-time work. In the case of the person concerned a determination was made by a Deciding Officer that he was not genuinely seeking work in accordance...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy is aware,Gateway is a county and city council work scheme which aims to provide short-term quality and suitable work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than 24 months. Funding of the order of €22.4 m is being provided in the Department's Vote in 2015 to cover placements under the scheme. The Department has made inquiries and has been unable to establish...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Expenditure (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: Both the last Government and the current Government have introduced a range of welfare expenditure reduction measures in order to restore the public finances to health and to reduce our debt to sustainable levels. During their time in office, the previous Government introduced a wide range of cost saving measures in the welfare area including: - An 8% reduction in the weekly personal rates...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments – Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance – that are conditional on the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Administration (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: Since the introduction of the JobBridge scheme in July 2011, over 18,200 Host Organisations have provided work experience opportunities to over 44,000 unemployed jobseekers. In order to try to ensure that the scheme provides a good basis for successful outcomes, the Department applies a number of conditions. These include the requirement on a Host Organisation to agree to adhere to the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobsPlus Scheme (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The JobsPlus incentive is designed to encourage employers and businesses to focus their recruitment efforts on those who have been out of work for long periods or on young people seeking work. JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers in the form of a monthly grant paid over two years. Two levels of grant are payable - €7,500 or €10,000 –...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The State pension (contributory) is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Since 1961, when contributory pensions were first introduced, the average contributions test has been used in calculating pension entitlement. Once over 16 years of age, the date a person enters into insurable employment is the date used for averaging purposes. A number of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Payments (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term welfare with meeting the costs of their heating needs during the winter season. The allowance represents a contribution towards the energy costs of a household. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Only one allowance is paid per household. In order to qualify for the scheme a person must be in receipt of a qualifying...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: In order to qualify for jobseeker credits, a person must have entered insurable employment, have paid at least one PRSI contribution at Class A, H or P and be available for and genuinely seeking work. Legislation provides that, where a person has a gap in their insurance record with no paid or credited contributions for a period of two consecutive years, credits will not be awarded until...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (17 Nov 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: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme currently supporting approximately 63,000 people at a cost of over €298 million in 2015. Over 17, 200 rent supplement tenancies have been awarded this year, of which approximately 5,600 are in Dublin, showing that people are securing accommodation under the scheme. A review of the rent...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Data Sharing Arrangements (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: Client data is transferred from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to the Department of Education and Skills (DES) in order to meet with EU regulations governing the programmes under the European Globalisation Fund (EGF), for which DES is the Management Authority. DSP carries out data matching exercises for the purpose of validating PPS Numbers requested by DES for third level...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The State pension contributory is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Therefore, it is important to ensure that those qualifying have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement to a State pension, all contributions paid or credited over their working...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth and the availability of productive employment for young people. However, the Government recognises that as the recovery takes hold, there is a need for additional...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 63,000 people at a cost of over €298 million in 2015. Over 17, 200 rent supplement tenancies have been awarded this year showing that landlords are accommodating significant numbers under the scheme. A review of the rent limits undertaken earlier this year found that...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: JobPath is a new approach to employment activation that will support people who are long-term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. Following the completion of a rigorous public procurement process, two companies were selected to provide the JobPath service - Turas Nua Limited and Seetec Limited. JobPath was...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Redeployment (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department is engaging with officials in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) regarding the ongoing roll-out and transfer of long-term rent supplement recipients to the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). To date, HAP is being rolled out in 18 local authority areas with some 4,800 tenancies in place, including Kildare, where HAP was recently introduced...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection has a track record of commissioning independent evaluations of its schemes and programmes (e.g. NEAP, JobBridge) and using them to inform reviews of policy. The evaluation of the Back To Education Allowance (BTEA) has been performed to best international standards and is the first, pathfinder study to use the Department’s Jobseekers Longitudinal...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: JobPath is a new approach to employment activation that will support people who are long-term unemployed and those most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed to secure and sustain paid employment. Following the completion of a public procurement process, two companies were selected to provide the JobPath service - Turas Nua Limited and Seetec Limited. The minimum elements of customer...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (17 Nov 2015)

Joan Burton: The average appeal processing time for 2014 and to date in 2015 broken down by all social welfare scheme types as outlined in the tables below. Appeal processing times generally peaked in 2011 when the overall average time for an oral hearing was 52.5 weeks and 25.1 weeks for a summary decision. In 2014 average appeal processing times for an oral hearing had almost halved to 28.6 weeks and...