Results 361-380 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Oct 2004)

Séamus Brennan: Subject to certain conditions, the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards, provides for the payment of a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of rent to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation needs and who do not have accommodation available from any other source. The South...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (19 Oct 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The requested information is contained in the following table.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Oct 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The living alone allowance is an additional payment of €7.70 per week made to people receiving certain social welfare payments who are living alone. In general, the payment is made to those who have reached pension age and are receiving a social welfare pension and those under that age receiving certain invalidity type schemes. Extending the allowance to recipients of the pre-retirement...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (19 Oct 2004)

Séamus Brennan: In assessing means for social assistance purposes account is taken of any cash income the person may have, together with the value of capital and property. Capital may include the following: stocks and shares of every description, which are assessed according to their current market value, and savings certificates, bonds or national instalment savings, which are assessed according to their...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (19 Oct 2004)

Séamus Brennan: Provision has been made to exempt from PRSI contributions payments made to personal retirement savings accounts, PRSAs, introduced under the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002 and payments to other personal pensions in the form of ordinary retirement annuity contracts, which are paid through the payroll system. These arrangements were provided for in the regulations that govern the PAYE system....

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Oct 2004)

Séamus Brennan: Under the existing free travel scheme, pass holders who reside in the Republic of Ireland can travel free within the South. Similarly, people who live in Northern Ireland and who hold a concessionary travel pass can travel free within the North. Under the special cross-Border arrangements in place since 1995, both southern and northern pass holders can undertake cross-Border journeys free of...

Written Answers — Social Partnership Policy: Social Partnership Policy (19 Oct 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The recommendations to which the Deputy refers form part of CORI's most recent policy briefing in which it sets out its main recommendations for budget 2005. In the latter regard, I recently held a pre-budget forum, attended by 27 different organisations, including CORI. These organisations, representing the welfare interests of a wide variety of people, put forward a range of proposals and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The free travel scheme is available to all people aged 66 years or over who are permanently residing in the State. It is also available to carers and to people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments. Accordingly, those emigrants who return to live permanently in the State are entitled to free travel. Any extension to the free travel scheme for temporary visits...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: Recipients of social welfare or health board payments who have been prescribed a special diet as a result of a specified medical condition, and whose means are insufficient to meet their needs, may qualify for a diet supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The amount of supplement payable depends on which of two categories of diet, that is, a lower cost diet costing €44...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards, provides for exceptional needs payments to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her weekly income. The North Western Health Board was contacted regarding this case and has advised that the person concerned...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards, provides for exceptional needs payments to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her weekly income. In certain circumstances a board will provide assistance towards the cost of minor repairs but the scale...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: My Department has a dedicated internal audit unit, which is free of other duties and independent of the activities it audits. The unit is headed by a professional accountant and also includes two assistant principals, four higher executive officers, five executive officers and one clerical officer. Apart from the head of internal audit, HIA, other members of the unit has accounting expertise...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: An application for carer's allowance from the person concerned was received by my Department on 22 January 2004. Following the necessary investigations to determine her entitlement, she was awarded carer's allowance on 21 April 2004 with effect from 22 January, 2004. The person concerned has not requested that consideration be given to backdating the claim prior to the date of her...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: In the case of the person concerned she applied for a deserted wife's benefit in December 1994. Entitlement to this payment, for those applicants whose claim was made on or after 31 August 1992, is subject to an earnings limit. According to the information available to the Department, the gross earnings of the person concerned for the income tax year 2003 exceeded the maximum earnings limit....

Written Answers — Safe Home Programme: Safe Home Programme (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The safe home programme is core funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, through the DÍON fund, and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. My Department has funded the safe home programme for various information projects since 2001 amounting to €56,245 to date. Among the projects funded were the setting up of a website, www.safehomeireland.ie; the production...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: Entitlement to old age non-contributory pension is based upon a claimant's means. In the case of a married couple, the means of each individual is taken to be half their joint means. In August 2004, the person concerned was awarded an old age non-contributory pension of €136.50 per week with effect from 30 July 2004, the first payment date after she reached pension age 66. Her entitlement...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned was in receipt of disability allowance from 11 April 2001. Payment was disallowed by a deciding officer from 10 February 2004 on the grounds that the person's means were in excess of the limit. These means were held to be derived from benefit of a partner's earnings from employment. The person appealed this decision to the social welfare appeals office. Following an oral...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned, who is 64 years of age, is currently in receipt of a widower's contributory pension at the rate of €134.30, based on a yearly insurance average of 32. In addition he is in receipt of a national fuel allowance of €12.90 per week. The fuel allowance is paid from October to April each year. The person concerned is also in receipt of a travel pass. He does not qualify...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: Section 57 of the regulations in question provides that where, for any two complete consecutive social insurance contribution years, there are no employment contributions paid or credited in respect of an insured person, a contribution cannot be credited to such person until a further 26 employment contributions have been paid in respect of him or her. Section 58 provides that employment...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (2 Nov 2004)

Séamus Brennan: The basic qualifying conditions for the old age (contributory) pension date from the introduction of the pension in 1961, though they have been eased considerably in recent years to make qualifying easier. The average contributions test was intended to ensure that those qualifying for pension had made an adequate contribution to the social insurance fund while at the same time minimising the...