Results 14,381-14,400 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to delivering a quality customer service and in that regard endeavours to treat all clients, including cancer patients, in a fair and courteous manner. Medical assessment of eligibility for illness related benefit/assistance schemes is determined by the Department's Medical Assessors in accordance with evidence based medical guidelines and protocols. Deciding...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The question of introducing a scheme of statutory sick pay, whereby employers would directly meet the costs of sick absence for an initial period of illness, is being considered in the context of the need to reform the social welfare system to bring it into line with practices in other countries in this area; the need to address the deficit in the social insurance fund; the need to limit...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: As Minister for Social Protection, I am determined to ensure that the contribution of such schemes as is recognised in any future decisions on the future operation, funding and role of Community Employment. There is a total spend on Community Employment of €315 million in 2012. The financial review, that I have asked to be completed by the end of March, is being carried out between local...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: I acknowledge the valuable contribution made by Community Employment Projects. Currently, there are currently thirty three Community Employment Projects located in the Dublin 5, 17 and 13 areas where they support a wide range of services within the communities. However due to the current economic circumstances, this Department has had to find significant savings in the Budget for 2012. The...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: As announced in the Pathways to Work, one of the five strands of the programme is to provide greater targeting of activation places and opportunities for job seekers - particularly those who are over one year unemployed. The Department will continue to provide supports in the form of work experience and training through the community and voluntary sectors. Community Employment will play a...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: There are currently 26 staff, equating to 22.8 full-time equivalent posts, assigned to the Department's local office in Bray. This is an increase since 2007 as set out in the table below. While there are no plans to assign additional staff to Bray local office, I can assure the Deputy that the staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed, having regard to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department has an extensive legal structure to support the sharing of data for the purpose of controlling the entitlement and payment of benefits. The legislative provisions which allow for the specific sharing of data are contained in section 261 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005. My Department is not aware of any cases where the Data Protection Act has been used to...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Responsibility for the Local Employment Services (LES) transferred from the Department of Education and Skills to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1st January 2012. The department recognises the valuable role the Local Employment Services play in the activation of unemployed people, particularly those most disadvantaged and distant from the labour market and in the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Ensuring that the right person is paid the right amount of money at the right time is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the Department which makes payments to over one million people every week. It is important to emphasise, that the vast majority of people are receiving the entitlement due to them each week. Overpayments are generally defined as money obtained contrary to or in...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Policy decisions in relation to social housing are the responsibility of my colleagues the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Housing and Planning.

Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The requirement to be habitually resident in Ireland was introduced as a qualifying condition for certain social assistance schemes and child benefit with effect from 1 May 2004. The effect of the condition is that a person whose habitual residence is elsewhere would not normally be entitled to social welfare assistance or child benefit payments on arrival in Ireland. Each case received for...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Domiciliary care allowance (DCA) is currently paid to over 24,000 parents/guardians in respect of 26,000 children at a cost of approximately €100m in 2011, with the accompanying Respite Care Grant costing a further €45m. In addition, the Department makes an extensive range of payments to support families with children. In 2011, some €2.08 billion was paid out in respect of 1.13...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Since January 2009 payment of illness benefit is limited to a maximum of 104 weeks (624 pay days) in most cases. There are a number of possible social welfare payments for which a customer may qualify thereafter, depending on their circumstances. Letters are sent to illness benefit customers 13 weeks before their claim is due to expire. This period of advance notice is kept under review. The...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The process of reviewing each Community Employment (CE) scheme is well advanced. All schemes have been communicated with and met by an officer of the Department. Returns from these meetings are now being examined on a regional basis in terms of the funding requirements and the savings that can be achieved within the limits set down by the Department. These outcomes will be analysed and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The partial capacity benefit scheme was formally launched on Monday 13th February 2012. Full details of the scheme have been published on the Department's website and an information leaflet has also been published. The introduction of the partial capacity benefit scheme marks an important and positive development of the social welfare system. The scheme recognises that the welfare...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The Registrar General has informed me that a general review of the provisions of the Civil Registration Act 2004 was completed in 2011. There are a range of issues to be considered in relation to the scope and implementation of any proposed changes to the provisions of the Act and some of these issues may have cross-departmental implications, which need to be considered also. It is my...

Written Answers — Departmental Functions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and decisions made on entitlement as quickly as possible. Each application for payment is determined by an officer of the Department taking account of the relevant legislative provisions and on the basis of the merits of each individual case. The timescale...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Plans to tackle child poverty are outlined in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 (NAPSincl) and in the Programme for Government. The Government is committed to achieving the targets in the NAPsincl to reduce the number of people experiencing poverty. These targets are currently being reviewed to ensure that they continue to be appropriate and achievable. Consistent...

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: My Department operates a range of means tested schemes and these schemes, including the means testing elements, are administered through a network of local and central offices. In the case of means tested social assistance schemes, the vast majority of claimants are means tested only once. In a small number of cases, a second means test may be required if they apply for basic supplementary...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: There are many activation programmes that do not require one year on Jobseeker's allowance. Those programmes that have such a requirement have particular objectives and are targeted at specific groups as it is not possible to cater for all groups on a single programme. My Department is currently reviewing employment programmes and supports and this review will include eligibility...