Results 581-600 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: To put the matter in perspective, what happened was that people were paid a week in advance. The worst that could have happened is that a significant proportion of that number could have believed this to be a bonus. I have no way of knowing how many recipients understood this to be the case but I take on board Deputy Crowe's information that he received many complaints to that effect. I...

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: There is a difference between an overpayment and an advance and there is scope for political argument in this regard.

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: In referring to a "method of repayment", Deputy Stanton suggests that I should have pursued the 47,000 welfare recipients in question in an attempt to secure weekly repayments of some fixed amount. I did not pursue anybody for repayments but took the view that recipients should keep the money they had been given in advance. Why should I attempt to get money back? It would only make the...

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: This payment represented something to which the recipients were entitled, though not until the following week. Whether such a payment constitutes an advance or an overpayment is a matter for debate.

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Perhaps we should give social welfare recipients an option as to when they will be paid. I have already dealt with the repayment issue. We did not regard this as a case in which any amount was due to be repaid to the Department. The double payment was explained to the recipients and we communicated that there would be no attempt to reclaim the extra moneys. Repayment was not an issue because...

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Only by choice.

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I trust them.

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: They are better than that.

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: What about common sense?

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: No regulations were broken because a code of practice applies to overpayments. As this was not viewed as an overpayment, the regulations did not apply. The overpayment category is clearly defined and categorised by the Department. Some overpayments are considered to be fraud and are dealt with in a particular way. There is overpayment that is the Department's fault. This occurs when a...

Social Welfare Benefits. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I rest my case.

Social Welfare Code. (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Applicants for the one-parent family payment are required to make ongoing efforts to seek adequate maintenance from the other parent of the child. Such maintenance is normally obtained by way of negotiation or court order. Increasingly, separated couples are using my Department's family mediation service, which is being progressively extended nationwide, to reach agreement. Where social...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 71, 73, 85, 108 and 109 together. The one parent family payment is designed to provide income support to parents with insufficient means who have to parent alone. This can arise as a result of being widowed, or following separation or divorce, or being unmarried. The scheme in its present form largely reflects the reality that applied up to relatively...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 72, 95, 120 and 179 together. My Department has held discussions with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding aspects of the arrangements governing the collection and disposal of domestic waste. Those discussions have focused on establishing the facts and exchanging information about the level of charges for domestic waste...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Families and family life have been undergoing profound changes in Ireland and in many other developed countries in recent decades. These changes include the increasing participation of women in the workforce, decreasing fertility, a significantly higher incidence of separation and divorce, cohabitation outside marriage, lone parenthood and reconstituted families. These changes have major...

Written Answers — Child Support: Child Support (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Crèche supplements were introduced in some of the former health boards to provide individual assistance where necessary to parents in need of short-term support. This arose, for example, where a parent would not be able to avail of necessary supports such as counselling services or addiction treatment programmes without assistance towards the cost of child-minding. The fact that these...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 93 together. Migrant workers qualify for social insurance benefits in respect of the unexpired part of their work permits if they satisfy the normal qualifying contribution conditions. Migrant workers may also satisfy the habitual residence condition for receipt of social assistance payments and child benefit. The requirement to be habitually resident...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 113 together. The back to education allowance is a second chance education opportunities programme designed to encourage and facilitate people on certain social welfare payments to improve their skills and qualifications and, therefore, their prospects of returning to the active workforce. The conditions for entitlement to the third level option of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Overpayments of social welfare payments are categorised as fraud or non-fraud. Non-fraud cases are those which arise primarily due to customer or third party error, and some are due to departmental error. Fraud cases arise mainly on foot of false declarations by customers concerning their employment, income or family status. The question as to whether an overpayment which has arisen involves...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (23 Feb 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 84, 104, 119, 121 and 125 together. The results from the 2003 EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions, EU-SILC, released last month by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, are a valuable addition to the research already undertaken into income, living standards and the extent of poverty in Ireland. The new survey identifies groups at risk of poverty...