Results 1,481-1,500 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The holding and use of personal information is governed by the Data Protection Act 1988 and the Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003. On entering the Department, all staff members sign up to the terms of these Acts and staff with particular access to personnel files are briefed on the confidentiality of the nature of their work. All personnel files in my Department are safely and securely...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Under the career break scheme for Civil Servants, a total of ten staff in my Department have availed of unpaid leave to pursue a course of study in their own time since 2002, as follows: 2002, one; 2003, one; 2004, three; and 2005, five. A career break can be taken for a number of reasons, one of which is educational, and there are no terms or conditions relating to academic achievement...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: A total of €6,413 has been spent by my Department on briefcases since June 2002. All of these briefcases have been purchased in bulk and held in my Department's central store from where they are issued to staff as required. The briefcases have been issued to staff as follows: 2002, 111; 2003, 126; 2004, 92; and 2005, 88. The largest single amount paid by my Department for a briefcase is...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Personal digital assistants, PDAs, are not generally supplied to staff in my Department. A small number of PDAs have been purchased for research purposes by the information systems division in my Department, the most expensive of which cost €660. The Department's e-mail system has been in place for some time and does not provide the integration facilities required to use PDAs effectively....

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The following is a breakdown of staff in each grade in my Department who are currently on sick leave in excess of six months: Grade Number of Staff Services Officer 1 Clerical Officer 34 Staff Officer 3 Executive Officer 6 Higher Executive Officer 6 Assistant Principal 1 Principal Officer 1 Total 52 My Department has identified the issue of addressing and...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The amounts paid to the company in each year since 2000 are as follows: Year Amount 2000 Attendance at conferences and events IEP 2,651 Membership subscription IEP 21,447 Review of IS Division IEP 243,998 Review of Application Integration Strategies IEP 8,470 2001 Attendance at Conferences IEP 307.48 Membership subscription IEP 48,000 2002 Attendance at...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Details of my Department's contracts with the company concerned since 2000 are as follows: Year Amount (Euro) Project(s) 2000 109,601 (1) Service Delivery Modernisation Prototype 2001 4,356,272 (1) Civil Registration Modernisation 2002 2,173,564 (1) Civil Registration Modernisation 2003 80,542 (1) IS Services management support 2004 18,150 (1) Reach 2005 nil...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of a rent supplement to assist eligible people who are unable to provide for their immediate accommodation needs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. Neither I...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (19 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The amounts paid to the company in each year since 1997 are as in the table. Year £ 1997 Membership subscriptions 39,205 1998 Membership subscriptions 42,207 1999 Membership subscriptions 34,654 2000 Attendance at conferences and events 2,651 Membership subscription 21,447 Review of IS Division 243,998 Review of Application Integration Strategies 8,470 ...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (19 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Details of my Department's contracts with the company concerned since 1997 are set out in the table. Year Amount (Euro) Project(s) 1997 nil 1998 162,112 IS Services management support 1999 61,455 Civil Registration Modernisation Planning study 2000 109,601 (1) Service Delivery Modernisation Prototype 2001 4,356,272 (1) Civil Registration Modernisation 2002...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Social welfare programmes aim to be responsive to the needs of those who depend on income maintenance support while providing incentives to assist people to become more independent financially, particularly through employment. A number of measures have been introduced in recent years to remove disincentives to taking up employment and to assist in the transition from welfare to work. These...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: To qualify for unemployment benefit a person must have, since the date of entry into insurance, at least 52 weeks of insurable employment for which the appropriate social insurance contributions have been paid and must have at least 39 paid or credited contributions in the relevant tax year, currently 2003, or 26 paid contributions in the relevant tax year and 26 paid contributions in the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: A deciding officer disallowed the unemployment benefit claim of the person concerned from 3 August 2005 on the grounds that he was not genuinely seeking employment. The person concerned had failed to produce sufficient evidence to show that he had been consistently seeking full-time work. It is open to the person concerned to appeal this decision and a form for this purpose was issued to him...

Written Answers — Budget Submissions: Budget Submissions (19 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The Disability Federation of Ireland was one of over 30 representative organisations that attended this Department's pre-budget forum with me on 17 October 2005. At this forum, each organisation had the opportunity to present its key priorities for consideration in advance of budget 2006. I have also received the written submission from the Disability Federation of Ireland, which contains...

Social Welfare Consolidation Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (20 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: We have 18 months left.

Social Welfare Consolidation Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (20 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: It was just a wrong number.

Social Welfare Consolidation Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (20 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The wires were crossed.

Social Welfare Consolidation Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (20 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I thank Deputies for a fine debate. I had the pleasure of hearing all of it and greatly appreciate the contributions made. There is much expert advice available in the social welfare area and much research has been done, but it is particularly interesting to listen to Deputies who have people come to their clinics week in and out with real on-the-ground problems. I have taken careful note of...

Social Welfare Consolidation Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (20 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: It is not, but if the Deputy has that list, I would not mind looking at it. The 237 individuals identified were in receipt of fuel allowance as well as being on subsidised heating. There are approximately 4,000 people in receipt of subsidised heating from the city council and the 237 found were also in receipt of fuel allowance. That was an error. Under the law of the land — criticise it as...

Social Welfare Consolidation Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (20 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I must deal with the law as it is. The recipients were told that from the start of the next season the error would not be continued. I suppose there are a number of ways out of it. We cannot continue to pay all 237 people without paying the 4,000 other people. We cannot tell the 237 people in question that they can keep the allowance because they got it in error, but the people down the...