Results 15,221-15,240 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Government discussion paper, Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, put forward proposals to tackle obstacles to employment for lone parents and other low income families. Under the proposals the lone parenthood category of payment would no longer exist. Instead, a new payment would be made to all parents (living alone or with a partner), with young children, on low income. The non-income...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The purpose of Mortgage Interest Supplement is to provide short term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists with the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only. Under standard SWA rules, Mortgage Interest Supplements are normally calculated to...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, which is administered by the Community Welfare Division of the Health Service Executive (HSE), is designed to provide immediate and flexible assistance for those in need who do not qualify for payment under other State schemes. Under the legislation governing the scheme, the HSE may make a single payment to meet an exceptional need to people...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: People receiving Child Benefit are required, from time to time to complete a residency certification letter to confirm their on-going entitlement to the payment. A certification letter issued to the customer on 08/07/08 and as no reply was received within the specified time limit of 21 days, payment was suspended. A response was received from the customer on 15/09/08 and payment was...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department's role is to assist social welfare recipients with heating costs, both through their basic payments and through the household benefits package with fuel, electricity and gas allowances. These schemes have been improved significantly in recent years. Fuel Allowance is ordinarily paid to eligible people from the date of application. The majority of people applying for Fuel...
- Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The amount spent by the Department on consultants in 2007 was â¬1,013,604 and â¬463,580 to the end of August 2008. During this period consultancy expertise was used by the Department to support it in undertaking strategic reviews (e.g. review of the Social Insurance Fund and the equality review of the Social Welfare Code) and to provide specialist technical expertise in the application of...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department supports government policy which aims to facilitate the greater use of electronic payment systems in the economy in the interests of developing a world class payments environment in Ireland. Our payment strategy is designed to ensure that cost effective arrangements are in place for making payments to social welfare customers by using a range of payment options and to ensure...
- Written Answers — Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 227 and 228 together. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) provides assistance to people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. There are 53 independent companies nation-wide operating the service. Many voluntary and statutory bodies such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Community Welfare Service,...
- Written Answers — Combat Poverty Agency: Combat Poverty Agency (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department's 2008 Grant-In-Aid provision for the Combat Poverty Agency is â¬4.568m. The Agency's 2008 budget is broken down as follows; Administration and Accommodation â¬0.685m, Board and Staff â¬1.81m, Community Projects â¬0.913m, Communications â¬0.605m, Research â¬0.557m and other sundry expenditure provisions â¬0.085m. Sundry income amounts to â¬0.087m.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Each application is...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned applied for a jobseeker's allowance payment on 15 July 2008. His jobseeker's allowance claim was disallowed from 15 July 2008 on the grounds that his means exceeded the maximum amount payable in his case. He appealed the Deciding Officer's decision and his claim has been forwarded to a Social Welfare Inspector for further examination. On completion of inquiries a...
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: This case pertains to an individual who, being aged 64, working in Ireland, and in receipt of a UK Old Age Pension, is querying the PRSI Class at which she is liable to make contributions. As specified in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, Section 12 (1) (a), '. . . every person who, being over the age of 16 years and under pensionable age, is employed in any of the employments...
- Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Family Support Agency has responsibility for the Family Mediation Service, a free, professional and confidential service for couples, married and non-married, who have decided to separate or divorce and who together want to negotiate the terms of their separation or divorce with the help of a trained mediator. Family mediation assists separating couples to look at the resources and...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The development of a National Carers' Strategy is a key Government commitment in both the national partnership agreement "Towards 2016" and the Programme for Government. An inter-departmental/agency working group is currently developing the strategy. The group is chaired by the Department of An Taoiseach with the secretariat provided by my Department. Developing the strategy involves a wide...
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The number of contributors in the social insurance system reached some 2,624,000 in 2006. Of these, 2,436,757 workers, or some 92.78% paid PRSI at Classes that normally attract a social insurance liability. These figures represent the most recently available end-of-year returns. The current PRSI ceiling for employees stands at â¬50,700 per annum â above which no social insurance...
- Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Since the commencement of the Decentralisation programme in my Department, quarterly returns have been submitted to the Central Decentralisation Unit within the Department of Finance detailing expenditure under the heading of non-property costs. Table 1 below sets out the expenditure incurred since 3 July 2008 for the locations to which my Department is committed under the programme of...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned applied for illness benefit which is a payment for insured people who cannot work due to illness. To qualify for this benefit a person must satisfy the PRSI contribution conditions governing the scheme and be under age 66. The person concerned has 15 PRSI contributions recorded between 2005 and 2007. And, this does not satisfy the conditions for this benefit. If he has...
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Pay related social insurance (PRSI) receipts from both employers and employees form the main part of the income of the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). The fund provides insured contributors with both long-term pension benefits and short-term benefits such as jobseeker and illness payments. The receipts forecast from PRSI for 2008 is â¬8,249 million. The receipts from PRSI for each year from...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the capital assessment arrangements for Disability Allowance. For the purposes of Disability Allowance, capital is assessed as follows: Amount of Capital Weekly Means Assessed Up to â¬50,000 Nil â¬50,000 â â¬60,000 â¬1 per each â¬1,000 â¬60,000 â â¬70,000 â¬2 per each â¬1,000 Over â¬70,000 â¬4 per each â¬1,000 This means that...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Supporting and recognising carers in our society is, and has been, a priority of the Government since 1997. Over that period, weekly payment rates to carers have greatly increased, qualifying conditions for carer's allowance have significantly eased, coverage of the scheme has been extended and new schemes such as carer's benefit and the respite care grant have been introduced and extended....