Results 10,641-10,660 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The sad reality is that social welfare fraud exists. Every euro lost through such fraud represents money taken from the purses and pockets of those who really need social welfare support. I am shocked that some Deputies appear to find the notion of social welfare fraud something which should just be condoned and almost endorsed. That is entirely unacceptable. We are in the middle of a...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: People who work hard for low wages and who pay PRSI are paying for the social welfare system. It should not be the case that others should be allowed to defraud that system.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The social welfare system is a social contract. The viability of that contract depends on ordinary people being confident that the system is not being milked, abused or scammed by a very small number of individuals. The number of those involved in social welfare fraud is not that great. Unfortunately, those people who are involved in such activity completely destroy the confidence of...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The staff of the Department of Social Protection receive a great deal of training and there is a culture of giving people advice, publishing a considerable amount of information on the Department website and making information available in particular through citizens' information centres and MABS for people who are in difficulty with mortgages. Regarding citizens' information structures, I...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: This is a provision that the Deputy might welcome. It is to provide that the domiciliary care allowance is not assessable as means for supplementary welfare allowance purposes. It is to benefit people who are in receipt of domiciliary care allowance. I recommend the section to the House.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The question of red line issues arises in the context of the Government's commitment to tackling Ireland's economic crisis and, in particular in the context of the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure currently underway. The Government has not singled out any single programme, scheme or service in the social welfare area or anywhere else that is 100% guaranteed to continue indefinitely in...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the Department. A key objective of the Department's control strategy is to ensure that the right person is paid the right amount of money at the right time. A four-pronged control strategy has been adopted by the Department, namely; · the prevention of fraud and error at the...

Written Answers — Carer's Strategy: Carer's Strategy (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Question Nos. 38 and 54 together. The Government is committed in the Programme for Government to developing a carers' strategy. It will consider how best to progress the development of the strategy, taking into account the prevailing economic realities and the work that was carried out previously. The Department of the Taoiseach chaired an interdepartmental group in 2008...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 40 and 66 together. The Jobs Initiative recently announced by the Government contains additional labour market activation measures that aim to provide unemployed people with enhanced opportunities to maintain and develop their skills and competencies while also offering the possibility of securing valuable work experience. These measures will assist those...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: My Department is establishing a new National Employment and Entitlements Service, as provided for in the Programme for Government, which will integrate employment and benefit payment services within the Department. In establishing and developing the National Employment and Entitlements Service the Department has set out to design the new service based on a case management approach with the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there are currently 2,395 carer's allowance cases on appeal and awaiting decision. The average waiting time for carer's allowance appeals dealt with by way of a summary decision in 2010 was 26.9 weeks, while the average time to process an oral hearing was 47.3 weeks. These processing times are calculated from the registration date of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. At the end of December 2010 there were 97,260 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 63% in the last three...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The social security rights of people moving around the EU are governed by EU Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. These Regulations, which have been in existence in one form or another since 1959, 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 the EU. A key principle of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Government discussion paper, "Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents", which was published in 2006, proposed that the category of lone parenthood would be abolished. Instead, a parental allowance would be made to all parents (living alone or with a partner) with young children on a low income. Since the launch of the discussion paper, extensive consultation has taken place with relevant...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Jobs Initiative introduced a package of measures to assist in employment generation, provide opportunities for those who have lost their jobs and generate confidence in the economy. The various tax changes announced in the Jobs Initiative are being carried in the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011. These measures include reductions in VAT and the Air Travel Tax and the introduction of a levy on...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The purpose of Tús is to focus on those people who are long-term unemployed. For this reason, eligibility is at present confined to those on the live register for 12 months and in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. These provisions are to ensure a targeted approach to those currently affected by long-term unemployment. Participants will, in the first instance, be identified by the...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The national internship scheme, which was announced as part of the Jobs Initiative on 10 May, 2011, replaces the skills development and internship programme, which was originally announced as part of Budget 2011 last December. The national internship scheme will provide internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months duration to those seeking employment. These internship opportunities...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department is subject to annual audit by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. As part of this audit, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General examines the regularity of the expenditure of the Department, including expenditure suspected as fraudulent, and control measures in place within the Department. The Audit of the 2010 Vote Account and of the Social Insurance...

Written Answers — Programmes for Government: Programmes for Government (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The back to education allowance (BTEA) is one of a range of activation supports and policies with the objective of assisting social welfare recipients to improve their life chances by facilitating access to employment, work experience, education and training. The focus of BTEA is to assist those who are most marginalised and distant from the labour market to acquire the necessary education to...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The national internship scheme is a Government scheme which will be administered by the Department of Social Protection in line with relevant government accounting and procedural practices. I have appointed a Steering Group chaired by Mr. Martin Murphy, Managing Director of HP Ireland. The Steering Group contains representatives from Glen Dimplex, Harmonia Publications, the National Youth...