Results 9,961-9,980 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputy for his comments. When the Joint Committee on Social Protection recommences, this may be a matter that the Deputy, with all his experience, can raise for discussion. There are 1,926 recipients of disability allowance aged between 16 and 18. This represents about 1.9% of the total number of people receiving disability allowance. The total spend on disability allowance for...

Child Support (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 44 together. The social security rights of people moving around the EU are governed by EU regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. These have been in existence in one form or another since 1959 and are designed to co-ordinate the social security systems of the various member states so that people and their families are not disadvantaged when they move within...

Child Support (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Child benefit and other such supports are paid as direct payments to parents. In many EU member states, similar direct payments are far lower, some at even less than €20 a month, because of a lower cost of living or that child care and preschool education is provided by the State rather than through a direct payment to the parent. If a worker here has a child resident in another country,...

Child Support (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The total payments for the past three years were approximately €56 million. In the overall child benefit budget, that may not seem like a lot of money but to people relying on social welfare income, €56 million is a lot of money. If we are to retain confidence in the social welfare contract between the citizen and the State, we must ensure we can tell people that the payments are...

Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The current average times to process social welfare appeals, by scheme, based on figures for 2010 are given in the detailed table following this reply, which I will not read out unless Deputy Kelleher really wants me to. The figures include cases revised by deciding officers of the Department in addition to those decided by appeals officers. There are no figures readily available for the...

Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The current information on appeals is 29.7 weeks, a lengthy period of time in respect of domiciliary care allowance. Parents applying for this allowance for the first time can encounter significant difficulties. I told Deputy Kelleher earlier that, on taking up office, one of the first things I arranged to do was to meet the people in the management of the Social Welfare Appeals Office,...

Employment Rights (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Employment Appeals Tribunal is an independent body bound to act judicially and was set up to provide a speedy, fair, inexpensive and informal means for individuals to seek remedies for alleged infringements of their statutory rights. Where compensation is awarded by an Employment Appeals Tribunal, the award is subject to a maximum of 104 weeks remuneration. Remuneration includes basic...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (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: (a) the length and continuity of residence in the State or in any other particular country; (b) the length and purpose of any absence from the State; (c) the nature...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Relatively few returning Irish emigrants are refused social welfare payments on grounds of habitual residence. 738 Irish citizens were disallowed a social welfare payment because of the habitual residence rule in 2009. Records for 2010 are incomplete due to industrial action. Jobseeker's allowance accounted for over 70% of disallowances in 2009. In cases where returning Irish emigrants are...

Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Government is committed to tackling Ireland's economic crisis in a way that is fair, balanced, and which recognises the need for social solidarity. As was stressed in the preamble to our Programme for Government, in order to address the very substantial problems that we face, it is essential that new ways, new approaches and new thinking will form the constant backdrop to the work of the...

Written Answers — National Carers Strategy: National Carers Strategy (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 33 and 45 together. During 2008, an interdepartmental group, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach, undertook work to develop a National Carers' Strategy. The Departments of Finance, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Health and Children, and Social and Family Affairs, as well as the Health Service Executive and FÁS were represented on the group. The...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Gender Recognition Advisory Group was established in 2010 with the following terms of reference:- "To advise the Minister for Social Protection on the legislation required to provide for legal recognition of the acquired gender of transsexuals. In particular, to propose heads of a bill to provide for:- o The establishment of a process for legal recognition of the acquired gender of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (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 a very important role in the objective of reducing child poverty. The Government is conscious that child benefit as a universal payment can be an important source of income for all families during a time of recession and unemployment. Between 2000 and 2009,...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 36, 37, 39, 40, 43, 48 and 49 together. This Government takes up office in the context of a profound banking, fiscal and jobs crisis and the decision to seek external financial assistance which has been provided by the EU and the IMF. This crisis has been caused by the reckless mismanagement of the economy by previous Governments. The priority of this...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Tús is a new activation measure which will provide 5,000 people on the Live Register with a work placement opportunity with community, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations and service providers. These work placements will be 12 months long and support the work of the voluntary sector across the country. Persons on the Live Register for at least 12 months and in receipt of jobseeker's...

Written Answers — Civil Registration Service: Civil Registration Service (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The administration of the Civil Registration Service is statutorily a matter for the Registrar General. I have made enquiries with the Registrar General and he has informed me that the general review of the provisions of the Civil Registration Act 2004 is expected to be completed by the middle of this year. There are a range of issues to be considered in relation to the scope and...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Late last year agreement was reached between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and unions representing the Community Welfare Officers that the staff of the Community Welfare Service (CWS) would transfer to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1st January 2011 on a secondment basis initially. The period of secondment is to last for 9 months until the end of September 2011....

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The challenges facing the Irish pension system are significant. In particular, the task of financing increasing pension spending will fall to a diminishing share of the population. There are currently six workers for every pensioner and this ratio is expected to decrease to less than two to one by 2050. Increasing State pension age is one of the ways in which we can sustain the pensions...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Activation measures are designed to assist people in receipt of social welfare payments to move into employment and that they are facilitated in doing so by ensuring that they have relevant skills in a changing labour market. The process underway, wherein the Employment and Community Services elements of FÁS, as well as the Community Welfare Service, are being integrated into the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The focus of the back to education allowance (BTEA) is to assist those who are most marginalised and distant from the labour market to acquire the necessary education to improve their chances of becoming independent of the social welfare system. The BTEA scheme can offer participation in second and third level education by enabling eligible people on social welfare to continue to receive a...