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

Written Answers — Social Welfare Offices: Social Welfare Offices (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The one-parent family payment is the income support scheme for separated, unmarried and widowed persons and also for prisoners spouses who are bringing up a child or children without the support of a partner. It was introduced in 1997 when it replaced a number of schemes for different categories of lone parent. At the end of March 2004, there were 80,087 persons receiving one-parent family...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: A number of measures have been introduced in recent years which make it easier for people to qualify for pensions. These include extended social insurance coverage and an easing of the qualifying conditions for old age contributory and retirement pensions. These measures are of particular benefit to women who may have less than complete social insurance records due to working in the home. In...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: A person approaching pension age who is in receipt of a social welfare payment is advised to apply for the pension three months in advance of reaching pension age. The onus remains on the person to complete the application form and submit this to the Department. About 30% of all those who apply for an old age pension are notified under this process. The social security authorities in a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: 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. The matter is also being discussed through the social partnership process. The discussions between my Department and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government have focused...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 303 to 306, inclusive, together. Diet supplements are provided through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Any person who is receiving a social welfare or Health Service Executive payment, who has been prescribed a special diet as a result of a...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Exemption from payment of social insurance employment contributions for a period not exceeding 52 weeks can be granted in respect of the temporary employment of persons who are not ordinarily resident in the State. Such exemptions are subject to the employee in question having a valid work permit and confirmation by the employer that social insurance contributions are paid in their home...

Written Answers — Departmental Transport: Departmental Transport (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Travel costs are paid to officials in my Department in accordance with Department of Finance regulations and instructions. These regulations and instructions set out the various conditions governing travel on official business, including the general requirement to use public transport at all times where this is available and feasible. My Department issues internal guidelines to staff from...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The function of the press office in my Department is to provide a press service to the Minister and the Department and to provide an effective channel of communication with the media. The role of the staff in the press office is to carry out these functions. There are three staff in the Department's press office. The three departmental officers assigned to the press office include the press...

Written Answers — Social Inclusion Measures: Social Inclusion Measures (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The European Council meeting at Laeken in December 2001 endorsed a set of 18 common statistical indicators for measuring social inclusion. Across EU member states the EU survey on income and living conditions, EU-SILC, is the principal source for compiling data on many of these indicators. Ireland was among the first set of five countries to introduce EU-SILC in 2003 and was the first country...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 312 and 316 together. Rent supplements are provided through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. One of the conditions for receipt of rent supplement relates to limits on the level of rent an applicant can incur. The purpose of these rent limits is to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 313 and 321 together. The back to school clothing and footwear allowance, BSCFA, scheme assists low income families with extra costs when children start school each autumn. The scheme operates from the beginning of June to the end of September each year and is administered on my behalf by the Health Service Executive. Under the scheme an allowance of €80 is...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 314, 315, 317, 319 and 320 together. The average increases in social welfare benefits and average industrial earnings from 1994 to 2005 is best shown by the following tabular statement. Since it has been the practice for many years to distinguish between payments to pensioners and other categories of recipients, the table shows the increases given to old age...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 322 and 323 together. In my reply to an earlier parliamentary question I set out the position on established and unestablished positions. An established civil servant is required to serve a two-year probationary period during which he or she must prove satisfactory from a health, performance and attendance perspective. In the case of a former civil servant the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The number of appeals on which work was in progress at 31 March 2005 was 5,207. A breakdown of these cases, by appeal category, is set out in the following appendix. Appeals in progress at 31 March 2005 Number Old Age and Retirement 268 Sickness and Disability 2,052 Occupational Injuries Benefits 294 Unemployment 1,182 Widows and One-Parent Family Payment 783 Child...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The Department has a cadre of 21 medical assessors, including the chief and deputy chief medical advisers. The role of the medical assessor is to provide independent advice to the Department for assessment or review purposes in regard to claims for illness, disability or carers schemes' payments. This is to ensure individuals who make claims, including those claiming disability payments,...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: A special Christmas bonus payment was first introduced in December 1980 for social welfare pensioners and people who depend solely on their social welfare payments for income support. There has been a number of developments in this scheme since its inception, including changes in the level of the bonus payment, the introduction of a minimum payment and the extension of the categories of...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Officials from my Department have had discussions with the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Health and Children, Education and Science and the health service to identify and put in place suitable funding arrangements consistent with the limited, but socially important, responsibility which my Department has in this area. Under 2005 guidelines from my Department, community...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 329, 333 and 334 together. The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. It is also available to carers and to people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments. At the end of 2004, 624,000 free travel passes had issued with expenditure on the scheme estimated at €53.4 million. The...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: In recent years the Government has introduced a number of specific measures to benefit widows and widowers. With regard to those who are over 66 years, the Government had committed to bringing their rate of payment into line with that of the old age contributory pension. This was achieved through a series of special increases in recent budgets and the process was completed in budget 2004. The...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Self-employed contributions are assessable for old age (contributory) pensions on the same basis as standard rate contributions. The pensions payable are in accordance with the normal rates applying to different contribution levels. A special pension is available to self-employed people who were over 56 years in 1988 when compulsory social insurance was introduced for this group. This group...