Results 11,181-11,200 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Social Welfare Benefits (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 25 together. There will be an ongoing necessity to curtail overall expenditure in 2012 and in later years. The comprehensive review of expenditure currently under way in all Departments and agencies will form the basis for making the necessary decisions to achieve this. The outcome of the review will be considered by the Government in September....

Social Welfare Benefits (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: A couple with an income of just under €60,000 can still qualify for a minimum payment in respect of carer's allowance while still getting the associated free travel and household benefits package. In anyone's language, that is a generous income disregard. I have already said the comprehensive review of expenditure is under way and budgetary decisions will be made in the context of the...

Social Welfare Benefits (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I agree with the Deputy that carers do a very important job. Their contribution in looking after members of their own families with particular needs, who are ill or may have a disability is truly heroic in many cases. However, as I have said, I am not in a position at this time to make any commitments regarding the outcome of the comprehensive review of expenditure or budget 2012. During...

Social Welfare Benefits (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: Receipt of carer's allowance is based on medical evidence. One of the difficulties with the system is that very often the initial application does not contain sufficient medical evidence of the quality required by deciding officers in the Department. There is scope to improve on this because when decisions on applications for carer's allowance are appealed, the successful appeal rate is...

Social Welfare Benefits (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: As regards Deputy Stanton's point on carers providing care for adults or children with a severe disability, I am not aware if such a study has been conducted. The previous Government made commitments in respect of a carers' strategy. From my own experience, the provision of services is as important as providing income. For instance, the provision of services for a child with a high level...

Community Welfare Service (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: The transfer of the community welfare service to the Department of Social Protection is part of the process of streamlining the health service. By taking income support functions from the HSE and merging them with my Department, the HSE has more capacity to concentrate on its core functions of health service delivery. As a first step in the process, the staff of the community welfare...

Community Welfare Service (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I appreciate the Deputy's concern. It is anticipated that there will be no change to current base locations immediately following transfer. However, as the establishment of the national employment and entitlements service progresses, there will inevitably be changes in office locations to facilitate the integration and the provision of the so-called one-stop-shop area to customers. This...

Community Welfare Service (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I hope it will, once the initial changeover period has been achieved. Additional guidelines on habitual residency were issued in recent weeks for people who are Irish passport holders or who are originally Irish and who have come back to Ireland. I am not sure if that is the kind of person the Deputy has in mind.

Community Welfare Service (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: Sometimes people come home perhaps to look after an elderly relative, but they still might have a house in the UK or wherever they have come from. New guidelines have come out in recent weeks, so I hope they may be of benefit to that particular individual. The Deputy might correspond with me on the issue and I will ask the Department officials to have a look at it.

Community Welfare Service (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: The IMF officials visit the country one week after the end of every quarter, so there are ongoing discussions between the IMF and my Department. I have also met the troika team and spoken to them about the importance of social welfare to domestic spending in the Irish economy. I will speak to officials in the Department about Deputy Cowen's request. On MABS and citizens information centres,...

Social Welfare Appeals (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 26 and 37 together. Figures on the breakdown of decisions in respect of the 28,166 appeals disposed of by the social welfare appeals office during 2010 are enclosed in the following table. I am informed by the social welfare appeals office that the number of appeals waiting to be processed on 17 July was 19,525. There are limited statistics available on...

Social Welfare Appeals (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I will arrange for the details to be forwarded to the Deputy. There has been an enormous increase in the number of appeals. The number of them has multiplied several times in each of the recent years. There was a 46% increase in the number of appeals in 2009 compared with 2008, and that was 27% greater than the number in 2007. There was a further increase of 26% in the number of appeals...

Social Welfare Appeals (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: That is a very sensible suggestion. As the community welfare officers move into the Department, this is an area where they in particular probably have enhanced experience and sensitivity. Perhaps we can have better advisory services and a better quality of information available in citizens information centres. Various organisations supply excellent information which enables people to make...

Social Welfare Appeals (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: Negotiations are ongoing in the Labour Relations Commission in regard to the community welfare officers. They will become full civil servants and they will be community welfare officers. On the matter of whether changes are required to the legislation, I will return to the Deputy on that. First, we must achieve the integration of the service. The community welfare officers have a...

Social Welfare Appeals (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: It can take quite a period of time. There is an attempt to streamline what is happening to improve the quality of the decision making and particularly to improve the time period in which decisions are made. The streamlining is being achieved through meetings with various areas of the Department.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 49 together. The average time taken to award a claim for carer's allowance in the first half of 2011 was 13 weeks. A total of 8,171 applications were registered in the first 6 months of 2011 and 6,702 were processed in the same period. There are currently 5,294 applications awaiting a decision. There are 51,134 carer's allowance claims in payment....

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 154 together. One of the core commitments in the Programme for Government is the restoration of fiscal stability. As we all know, overall Government spending in 2011 will be roughly €18 billion more than this year's overall Government income and that level of Exchequer borrowing is clearly not sustainable. In round terms, the total income that...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department engages consultants (individuals or organisations) to provide intellectual or knowledge based services (e.g. expert analysis and advice) including the delivery of reports, studies, assessments, recommendations and proposals that contribute to decision making or policy making. As part of a drawdown contract on business processing, consultants have been commissioned to build on...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 41 together. The Government is committed to pursuing the deficit reduction strategy in a way that is fair, balanced, and which recognises the need for social solidarity. Sustainable public finances are a prerequisite for future economic stability and growth, and for maintaining and developing our social protection system. In that regard, the Government...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (20 Jul 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 152 together. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) assists people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. There are 52 independent MABS companies operating the local MABS services from 65 locations throughout the country, with national support provided by the MABS NDL. In addition, the MABS National...