Results 11,801-11,820 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Illness Benefit Scheme: Illness Benefit Scheme (5 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 141 and 142 together. The Department does not separately record the number of sick days taken by public sector or private sector employees. It operates the illness benefit scheme which is a payment for insured people who cannot work due to illness. A person, whether employed in the public or private sector, may qualify for illness benefit if s/he is unable...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (5 Oct 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. The Department processes in excess of 2 million claims each year and it makes payments to over one million people every week. The vast majority of people are receiving the entitlement due to them. My Department does not record the total number of family units who are...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (5 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: Section 17 of the Social Welfare and Pensions (No.2) Act, 2009, amended the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005, to include provision for the appointment of authorised officers who, in certain circumstances, will have the power to obtain information from financial institutions without the consent of the customer. It is intended that these powers will be confined to a limited number of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: My Department operates a wide range of schemes under which a person may be entitled to receive a payment if they satisfy all of the various conditions for receipt of that payment. The conditions for receipt of a primary weekly payment, such as Disability Allowance or State Pension, typically include experiencing a prescribed contingency, such as unemployment, disability or old age, and...

Seanad: Flood Relief (5 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: Since I know the area well personally, I am aware of the devastation the flooding caused, the considerable disruption that families suffered and how long it has taken for the area to begin to recover from the disastrous floods. I acknowledge Senator White's interest in the topic and I thank her for raising the matter. In recognition of the devastation suffered by people in many areas of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The application for rent supplement by the person concerned was disallowed on the grounds that he did not have a housing need when assessed by the Local Authority and the rent was in excess of the rent limit for his area. The person concerned was notified of this decision in writing on 1st March 2011. No appeal against this decision has been received to date.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The application for rent supplement by the person concerned was refused on the grounds that she did not meet the qualifying conditions of the scheme and that the rent being paid was in excess of the prescribed limit for her circumstances. This decision has been upheld by the designated Appeals Officer and the person concerned was notified by letter which was issued on 22nd September 2011.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (6 Oct 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 lasted for 9 months until the end of September 2011. During...

Written Answers — Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: 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 Telephone Helpline is available from 9am to 8pm Monday to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 08 February 2011. 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 21 June...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: Ordinary employees who have access to the full range of social welfare benefits, including jobseeker's benefit, pay Class A PRSI at the rate of 4%. In addition, their employers make a PRSI contribution of 10.75% in respect of the employee, resulting in the combined payment of 14.75% per employee under full-rate PRSI Class A. (For employees earning less that €356, the rate of employer's...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: Payment of illness benefit, to the person concerned, was disallowed by a Deciding Officer following an examination by a Medical Assessor of the Department who expressed the opinion that she was capable of work. An appeal was registered on 29 August 2011 and the Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that, in accordance with statutory requirements, the Department was asked for the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The Community Welfare officer dealing with this case has advised that the person concerned was not previously awarded a rent supplement. The person concerned has been requested to either furnish an assessment of housing need by her local housing authority or documentation proving that she has been in private rented accommodation for a period of 183 days within the 12 month period prior to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department has a wide ranging programme to combat social welfare fraud and abuse. In this context, I launched a new strategic fraud initiative in early September which takes a revised and renewed approach to the challenges posed by social welfare fraud. The ambition is to ensure that the public have confidence and trust in this Government's response to combating fraud and abuse in the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) scheme operates from the beginning of June until the end of September each year. Departmental records show that no application form was received from the person concerned. A duplicate application form has been forwarded to the person concerned which he should complete and return immediately to Department of Social Protection at PO Box...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The range of payment options currently offered by the Department to pay customers includes electronic information transfer (EIT) through the post office network, electronic fund transfer (EFT) to the customer's account at a bank, building society or certain credit unions that have been authorised by the banking and credit union regulators. Cheque payments are also provided. Government...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The responsibility for setting retirement age in employment in the private sector rests with the individual employer who, in the main, sets retirement age under the contract of employment. Overall State responsibility for employment matters is held by my colleague, Mr Richard Bruton, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. However, my Department is working with the relevant...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) scheme operates from the beginning of June until the end of September each year. A person may qualify for a BSCFA payment BSCFA if he or she is in receipt of a social welfare or health service executive payment, is participating in an approved employment scheme or attending a recognised education or training course, and has household...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: In line with data protection requirements, the Department has, in the last number of years, been engaged in extensive data matching exercises with a number of other Government Departments and public bodies for control purposes. Data matching is viewed as an efficient and effective mechanism to target control related activity. Data matching acts as an important preventative and detection...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (6 Oct 2011)

Joan Burton: The procurement of services is essential to support the Department in providing high quality service to the public in a cost effective and efficient manner and is governed by a comprehensive regulatory, legal and procedural framework. The Department is focused on ensuring that all work is carried out in a fashion designed to achieve best value for money in the use of public funds to achieve...