Results 15,141-15,160 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Yes.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputies for their contributions. I wish to reiterate that this year the Department will spend more than €50 million, which in one sense will be for distressed mortgage holders, in mortgage interest. In fact, however, it is €50 million that goes to the banks. We could all have a debate about the wisdom of that, but basically an individual comes to the Department or MABS and...

Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Disability allowance is a means tested weekly payment made to people aged between 16 and 66 years who have an injury, disease, physical or mental disability that has continued or may be expected to continue for at least one year and as a result of which the person is substantially restricted in undertaking work that would otherwise be suitable for a person of similar age, experience and...

Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputy for his question. The number of people in receipt of the disability allowance has continued to increase significantly. In 2005, some 79,000 people were in receipt of disability allowance as compared with 102,000 in 2011, an increase of 1.7%. The number of awards has continued to rise. Medical evidence and diagnosis presented by a person's medical advisers and experts,...

Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: People often do not understand that the diagnosis of the person's medical advisers, doctors and experts is examined by medical assessors who are trained in occupational medicine. This is about whether a person can participate in some work. International information in this area indicates that enabling people to do some work is extremely good for their health-----

Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: An alternative approach would be to set up an independent agency. The Deputy should remember that the claims on the Department in this respect are very large. The number of people has reached 102,000. The adviser who is the expert is the person's own doctor. The Department of Social Protection is not a medical service. We are asking medical experts to examine what the person's own doctor...

Community Employment Schemes (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. The Department's estimated overall expenditure on employment support schemes in 2012 is €983 million, which represents an increase of almost €121 million on the 2011 figure. Some €315 million has been provided for community employment this year in respect of some 23,300 participants. In addition, approximately 1,400 supervisors are...

Community Employment Schemes (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy is probably aware, the schemes transferred from the old FÁS to my Department on 1 January last. I am determined that the important social contribution of community employment schemes, in delivering social services in communities across the country, will be recognised. I am keen to ensure those who participate in the scheme enjoy good experiences which help them to get back to...

Community Employment Schemes (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The second review to which the Deputy referred is a policy review of activation measures that are under way. This review will be completed in the next few months. It takes into account all the headings, including community employment, under the labour support measures valued at just under €1 billion. The expenditure of €1 billion by the Department of Social Protection on labour support...

Job Creation (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The Pathways to Work initiative has been developed to deliver a new approach to the provision of services to unemployed people. The key objective is to deliver a service that supports people who are unemployed to find a pathway back to employment and thereby reduce both the average duration of unemployment and the number of people who are long-term unemployed. A detailed project plan for...

Job Creation (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Work on the possible involvement of private sector providers, which is very complex, especially in regard to the payment basis and avoiding dead-weight effects, is ongoing within my Department. This work will be done within the framework of the Croke Park agreement. We are examining this area in depth. One should bear in mind that there are organisations, including Rehab, that provide...

Job Creation (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I appreciate what the Deputy has said but he should bear in mind what I said. The people who have come from FÁS and the community welfare service have, in many cases, already got training experience and experience of one-to-one dealings with individuals, either in the community welfare office or the FÁS employment services. The Department also has in-house training. We must provide an...

Child Care Services (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: In the past, income support for people of working age, including lone parents, has been passive in nature with little systematic engagement by the State with the customer. This is now changing. Long-term welfare dependency and passive income support to people of working age are not in the best interests of the recipient, of their children or of society. The best route out of poverty and...

Child Care Services (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Our model has developed over a long period of time. Until recently, lone parent status, specifically in regard to parenting, did not end until children reached the age of 18 or 22. The countries the Deputy referenced have good systems.

Child Care Services (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The Deputy referenced them as well and indicated that she thinks some elements of their systems are progressive. The situation in those countries is that a parent parenting on their own as well as being assisted with income support, as in our case, is also assisted to get back into education and training and, ultimately, into work because all the indications are that the best route to...

Child Care Services (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: My Department and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs are examining current levels of provision. For instance, the national child care investment programme, NCIP, supports approximately 15,800 after-school places and there are more than 37,000 childminding places. There is a total of 75,000 places in all, given the variety of ways in which after-school care, for example, can be...

Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department's control savings target for 2012 is €645 million with an associated target of reviewing 985,000 individual welfare claims. Control savings are a valuable performance indicator for the Department of year-on-year control activities and this year's targets will be kept under review during the coming months. It is important to point out that control savings are not actual...

Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I can cite an example of some of the targeted examinations conducted by social welfare inspectors. Last June, 320 clients were visited, of whom 99 were called for further interview. A total of 43 clients had their payments suspended - 18 for not attending their interviews, 16 for no longer being at the addresses stated and nine for non-compliance with requests to supply information, for...

Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: Is the Deputy saying in a roundabout way that he does not believe there is any fraud in the system?

Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: The vast majority of people who claim social welfare entitlements are absolutely honest but, to return to the example of the special projects I outlined to Deputy Fleming, if Revenue and social welfare inspectors visited a building site on which somebody from the North of Ireland is working it would not be possible without massive surveillance to determine how long he or she has been there....