Results 9,941-9,960 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Social Welfare Offices: Social Welfare Offices (29 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: There are no plans at this stage to close the social welfare local office in Thomas Street or to build a new social welfare office in the area.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Offices: Social Welfare Offices (29 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: There are no plans at this stage to close the social welfare office at Bishops Square, Dublin 8. The integration of the Community Welfare Service from the HSE and the transfer of the work placement and community programme services from FÁS will provide an opportunity to develop and deliver a more integrated service for our customers throughout the country, including the Dublin south central...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (29 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 09 November 2010. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 16...

Family and Child Income Supports (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Family and child income support payments both assist parents in contributing to the costs associated with raising children and play an important role in the objective of reducing child poverty. The Government is conscious that these payments are an important source of income for all families, particularly during a time of recession and unemployment. A value for money review of child income...

Family and Child Income Supports (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputy Kelleher for his good wishes. I am unsure whether Fianna Fáil has decided on its spokespersons, but I welcome the Deputy here today. The programme for Government contains a commitment to maintain social welfare rates. I cannot at this time give an explicit commitment on child benefit rates, as specific decisions on payment rates are made in a budgetary context. However, the...

Family and Child Income Supports (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department and I are currently reviewing the establishment of the commission and I hope to be in a position to make an announcement in the near future. I hope the issue of child and family income supports will be the first matter to be considered. As the Deputy knows, a great deal of work has been done in this area down the years and I hope the commission will be in a position to report...

Habitual Residency Regulations (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The habitual residence condition applies to social assistance payments and to child benefit. The determination of a person's habitual residence is made in accordance with five factors which are set out in legislation, as follows: the length and continuity of residence in the State or in any other particular country; the length and purpose of any absence from the State; the nature and pattern...

Habitual Residency Regulations (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: When representing the Government in the UK for St. Patrick's Day, I had the opportunity to meet a large number of organisations dealing with Irish emigrants living there, including those who return home and those who intend to return home. All I can say is that fewer than 3% of the applications for carer's allowance are refused on the grounds of habitual residence. The Deputy referred to...

Family Support Services (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Despite the recent cuts experienced by carers under 66, over the past decade weekly payment rates to carers have greatly increased, qualifying conditions for carer's allowance have significantly eased, coverage of the scheme has been extended and new schemes such as carer's benefit, half-rate carer's allowance and the respite care grant have been introduced and extended. The carer's...

Family Support Services (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: As of 18 March, there were approximately 50,000 people in receipt of carer's allowance, over 21,000 of whom work on the half-rate carer's allowance. The cost of the various payments and income supports that are made to carers comes to approximately €658 million. The Deputy is right to identify the economic crisis caused by the banks and some very wealthy people in this country, and by the...

Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The need for additional resources to deal with the significant increase in the number of appeals received by the social welfare appeals office has been recognised by the Department of Social Protection. The annual intake of appeals grew from 14,070 in 2007 to 32,432 in 2010, which was an increase of 18,362 or 130.5%. It appears that some 30,000 appeals will be received in 2011. I am...

Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I assure the Deputy that since I took office, I met the staff who deal with social welfare appeals. I did so as a matter of priority in order to examine ways and means of improving the service and the speed of the service. Every Deputy in the House is aware that this is a critical area, particularly for those who have lost jobs or businesses and are looking to the Department of Social...

Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I will make this a priority. I have already held discussions with senior and management staff on ways and means of improving the speed with which appeals are handled. As it is a quasi-judicial process, a great deal of care has to be taken when conducting appeals. I am quite confident that the appointment of additional staff and the improvement of procedures, which is being examined by the...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: This Government took office in the context of a profound banking, fiscal and jobs crisis and the decision to seek the external financial assistance that has been provided by the EU and the IMF. The crisis was caused by the reckless mismanagement of the economy by previous Governments and the destruction of significant parts of the Irish banking system. As part of its response to the crisis,...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Let us be clear about the matter. This Government took office almost three years after Ireland's extreme banking crisis began on St. Patrick's Day in 2008, when a collapse in the share price of Anglo Irish Bank signalled the beginning of the economic collapse of this country, the closure of many businesses and the loss of employment for tens of thousands of people. The previous Government's...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Deputy will be aware that an unemployed person who qualifies for the community employment programme under jobseeker's allowance, jobseeker's benefit or farm assist but who does not wish take up an offer may be able to transfer the eligibility to his or her spouse. In this regard, qualified adult dependants aged 25 and over of eligible persons may avail of the spousal swap option. This...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Disability allowance is a means tested payment for people with specified disabilities whose incomes fall below certain limits and who are between 16 and 66 years of age. Eligibility is subject to a medical examination and a means test. Under the community employment eligibility criteria, adult dependents of persons in receipt of disability allowances are not considered eligible unless they...

Departmental Offices (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: My Department currently operates a network of 63 local offices throughout the country. These offices are responsible for administering the jobseeker's payments schemes, one parent family payments and employment supports. They also provide a range of support services to assist groups such as the long-term unemployed, lone parents and people with disabilities to return to the active labour...

Departmental Offices (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I have taken a close interest in the works of NAMA and all its complex relationships with property developers, buildings and so on. I will ask the Department if any such arrangements are being made for the acquisition of premises, whether for purchase or lease, but I have not been advised of that. I will make inquiries and pass the information on to the Deputy. As the Deputy knows,...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: In general, the social welfare system processes payments from the age of 18. The minimum age limit of 16 was established in 1953 as a qualifying condition for the disabled person's maintenance allowance and the age limit was maintained when that scheme was replaced by the disability allowance scheme in 1996. The review of the disability allowance scheme published in November 2010 recommended...