Results 10,481-10,500 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Each application is determined by the HSE based on the particular circumstances of the case....

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is in receipt of carer's allowance in respect of one care recipient. An additional application for carer's allowance in respect of a second care recipient was made and was refused on the 15th April 2011. It was determined that full time care and attention was not being provided and that the claimant had been working more than 15 hours a week. The claimant was notified...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: I plan to keep the position of this group under review. Self- employed workers whose businesses cease or if they are on low income as a result of a downturn in demand for their services, have access to social assistance-based payments, such as jobseeker's allowance, subject to a means test . In assessing the means of a self-employed person, a flexible approach is adopted, taking account of...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Increasing pensions coverage, particular amongst the lower paid and those with gaps in their employment, is a priority for the Government. The introduction of an auto-enrolment system is one of the best ways in which we can do this. An inter-departmental/agency group, chaired by the Department of Social Protection is developing the legislative, regulatory and administrative infrastructure...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The overall objective of the pension system is to provide an adequate basic standard of living through direct state supports and to encourage people to make supplementary pension provision for themselves so that they can have an adequate income in retirement. A system which delivers on this objective must be sustainable and affordable. The charges associated with the provision of private...

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: I have not yet appointed any special advisers to my office.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: A self-employed person, who previously paid Class A contributions, may still have access to short-term social insurance schemes for a limited period of time, where they have the required number of paid Class A contributions in the relevant tax year. The relevant tax year is the second last complete contribution (tax) year prior to the date on which a claim for benefit is made. Thereafter a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all the evidence, allowed the appeal of the person concerned by way of summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the report referred to by the Deputy is a report produced by the appeals computer system which generates the average processing times for appeals by scheme. The system works by calculating the number of days for each case from registration to finalisation and averages the total. No report is available which shows the longest individual...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised that the person concerned was refused rent supplement. The HSE further advised that the person concerned appealed the decision to the HSE Appeals Office and to the Social Welfare Appeals Office; both offices upheld the decision to refuse rent supplement.

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Tús is a community work placement initiative which will provide up to 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. Some €30 million has been provided in the Department's Estimates in 2011 to fund the roll-out of the initiative. This initiative is delivered through the network of local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta in...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Eligibility for domiciliary care allowance is not based primarily on the medical or psychological condition, but on the resulting lack of function of body or mind necessitating the degree of extra care and attention required. Children with epilepsy, or any other condition, do not automatically qualify for a payment under the scheme. Each application is assessed on an individual basis taking...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: A qualifying condition for the payment of carer's allowance is that the person receiving care is medically assessed as needing care on a full-time basis. While carers may work up to fifteen hours per week, any further expansion would necessarily dilute the very notion of 'full time care and attention' and could directly impact on the person who needs that care. For this reason I have no...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 181 together. The homemaker's scheme makes qualification for State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. The scheme which was introduced in and took effect from 1994 allows up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age or incapacitated adults to be disregarded when a person's...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The person concerned made an application for carer's allowance which was received on the 30th April 2011. On the 21st May 2011, following an assessment by the Department's medical assessor of the medical evidence supplied, the application was refused on the grounds that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full-time care and attention as prescribed in the social welfare...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (31 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 22 December 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 08...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (1 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 139 together. Tús is a community work placement initiative which will provide up to 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. Some €30 million has been provided in the Department's Estimates in 2011 to fund the roll-out of the initiative. This initiative is delivered through the network of...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (1 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support for farmers and fisherpersons who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments. Persons are engaged for 191⁄2 hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. Each participant is paid the equivalent of the maximum rate of the social welfare payment they are entitled to plus...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (1 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support for farmers and fisherpersons who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments. Persons are engaged for 191⁄2 hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. Each participant is paid the equivalent of the maximum rate of the social welfare payment they are entitled to receive...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised that the person concerned is currently in receipt of a basic weekly supplementary welfare allowance payment.