Results 3,881-3,900 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: There are no outstanding EU directives within the area of responsibility of my Department that have not been transposed into law.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: Entitlement to Carer's Allowance is based on the care recipient requiring full-time care and attention. The care recipient's doctor provides a medical report in the first instance at the time of application for the allowance. Based on this information the Department's Chief Medical Advisor forms an opinion as to whether the care recipient requires full time care and attention. The Chief...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The telephone allowance administered by my Department under the household benefits package is being extended to include mobile telephones effective from April 2007. The telephone allowance currently applies to fixed line telephones only with a credit made by my Department direct to the supplier (i.e. the telephone company) on the customer's behalf. Under the new arrangements, customers will...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: Entitlement to a widow's or widower's pension depends, in the first instance, on the status in law of the relationship between the parties prior to the death of one of them. If the parties, at the date of death, were married within the meaning of the laws of the State, then the survivor of that marriage is a widow or widower for the purposes of the social welfare legislation relating to...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: My Department is committed to providing a quality service to all of its customers. Applications are processed and decisions on entitlement are issued as quickly as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions that apply. Most claims for State Pension Transition (SPT) and State Pension Contributory (SCP) are paid within four weeks of the person reaching pension age. However, there...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: To date, 122 officers have transferred to offices of the Department outside of Dublin under the Government's decentralisation programme. This includes 14 officers who have transferred to temporary accommodation while the permanent accommodation is being finalised. Fourteen of the 122 officers transferred from a non-Dublin office to a Dublin office initially for training purposes. The...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: On the basis of the number of people receiving social welfare support and the Population and Migration Estimates published by the CSO, it is estimated that 47,000 people of pension age are not receiving a social welfare pension payment in their own right or as a qualified adult on the pension of their spouse or partner. Further details of this estimate are not readily available. It is...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: In addition to the development of a new social assistance payment for lone parents, last year's Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, put forward proposals for a range of supports for lone parents, including expanding the availability and range of education and training opportunities for lone parents; extending the National Employment Action Plan to focus on lone...

Written Answers — Live Register: Live Register (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: At the week ending 23 February 2007 the total live register was 159,399, of whom 47,539, some 30% of the total, were under three months on the live register. The National Employment Action Plan (NEAP) was introduced on a phased basis in September 1998. Under the NEAP people aged 18 and under 64 years who are approaching certain durations on the live register are referred FÁS for interview...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The scheme I recently announced will extend the existing arrangements by allowing pensioners over the age of 66 and resident here to travel free of charge on all bus and rail services throughout Northern Ireland. Likewise, pensioners in Northern Ireland will travel free of charge on transport services in this State. The extended scheme applies only to pensioners entitled to free travel....

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The Family Services Project and the Special Projects fund are administered by my Department's Social and Family Support Services. The objectives of the projects are to assist individuals and families to enhance their employability through education, training and personal development opportunities and to improve their quality of life. The funding is provided to LVC groups to identify needs in...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The back to education programmes operated by my Department take cognisance of the fact that the more structured full-time second or third level courses of study that are approved under the back to education allowance scheme may not suit people who have been out of the education system for some time. In recognition of this, in Budget 2007, I extended the €32 weekly out of pocket expenses...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (20 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: My Department is committed to providing ease of access to its services for all customers including those with a hearing disability. A facility for persons with a hearing disability, who wish to telephone my Department, is in operation on a trial basis in the Disability Allowance section since October 2006. This facility can be used to communicate directly with customers with compatible...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I agree it is timely to consider fundamentally the role of the carer, and the strategy will provide this opportunity. Preliminary work has been commenced thereon and we hope to have a gathering of carers in the coming weeks to kick off the strategy and commence the process. The strategy presents an opportunity to consider the role of carers, who are valuable and valued in society. All...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: Work has commenced on the strategy and will go on at official level while the election campaign is going on. I will consider Deputy Stanton's point about the advisability of continuing with meetings in an election atmosphere. I do not want to do that and it is not my intention. We decided on this months ago but in view of the fact that it was mentioned in the House, I will consider it and...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The Deputy has paraphrased my views on this issue. The reality is that the allowance has not been changed since 1996, which means that successive Ministers took a social policy view of this matter. It is not a matter of money but trying to develop a social policy that permits people to move in directions in which they would wish to move and not fall into any traps in the system that prevent...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I take the Deputy's point but I have to start somewhere in dealing with the living alone allowance, and we took a view on that. I take Deputy Stanton's point in particular. We have a responsibility to help people who find themselves living alone and to devise and amend our systems to ensure they get whatever extra support is possible without it becoming a disincentive. That is the way we...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I thank the Deputies. Section 25 provides for the payment of rent supplement to be refused in respect of accommodation which is situated in an area notified to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as one of regeneration for the purposes of providing for greater social integration. I should point out that the provision...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, has put the case on the regeneration issue very well because he understands it better than most. Regeneration attempts to give communities a fresh start and has been in operation since 2004. The evidence available to my Department suggests it is working well and it is included in this Bill only to allow us, having received legal...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Séamus Brennan: Some 750 community welfare officers administer approximately €800 million. On the commencement of the health reforms the health strategy made it clear that community welfare officers had no role in that formal structural context. The idea of community welfare officers working more closely with the Department of Social and Family Affairs goes back to the Social Welfare Commission of 1986,...