Results 15,461-15,480 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland's social welfare system is based on two quite different types of entitlement â a social insurance system for people who have paid sufficient PRSI contributions and a social assistance system for people without adequate contributions who have little or no household means of their own. Social insurance is intended both to enable people to insure themselves...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of rent or mortgage interest to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support, to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet...
- Written Answers — : (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 138, 151, 177, 441 and 442 together. The Department is committed to providing a high quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions which apply. These conditions vary between the two jobseeker...
- Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 139 and 143 together. As Deputies will be aware, a review of the Combat Poverty Agency was undertaken on foot of a Government decision on the 6th of June 2007. The purpose of the review was to examine the role of the Agency in light of the emergence since 1986 of comprehensive strategies and new institutional arrangements to promote social inclusion...
- Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: This report, Tackling Health Inequalities â A Social Determinants Approach, shows how social, economic and environmental conditions play a major role in determining health in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Combat Poverty and the Institute of Public Health in Ireland jointly published this all-Ireland report, which makes a major contribution to our understanding of this subject. Full account...
- Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: There are no plans to merge the Employment Support Services of FÃS with the Department of Social and Family Affairs. FÃS and the Department work together in a complementary way and I have not made any such proposals to the Government on behalf of people on social welfare payments. A high degree of cooperation and coordination exists at both policy and operational level between the...
- Written Answers — Live Register: Live Register (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department collects information from people on the Live Register to establish entitlement to payments, to ensure that conditions for receipt of payment continue to be satisfied and to assist in the activation of those who are not progressing into employment or accessing training opportunities. The Live Register is profiled by scheme type, gender, age, duration on the Live Register,...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department has consistently publicised the FIS scheme in order to maximise uptake by qualified families. Significant improvements in the qualifying income limits and ongoing awareness campaigns have resulted in a strong upward trend in the levels of claims received. There are currently some 26,000 people in receipt of a weekly FIS payment. In 2007 the Department received 36,900 new and...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. Rent supplement is subject to a limit on the amount of rent that a person may incur. Rent limits are set at levels that enable the different eligible household types to secure and retain basic suitable rented accommodation, having regard to the...
- Written Answers — Data Protection: Data Protection (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department was notified in April 2007 that a laptop, belonging to the C&AG, had been taken from our offices. The theft was immediately reported to the GardaÃ. Some 16 months later, in early August, the Department was informed that the laptop contained personal data relating to social welfare customers. The Department reported this matter to the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 170 together. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of mortgage interest. The purpose of the 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...
- Written Answers — Budget Submissions: Budget Submissions (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I hosted the Pre Budget Forum on 19 September 2008. Representatives from 28 organisations including the unemployed, disabled, carers, women's issues, pensioners, widows, lone parents and family/marriage counselling services attended. In total submissions were received from 29 organisations across the community and voluntary sector. The submissions inform the development of policy within...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Guardians' payment schemes allow for the provision of a weekly allowance to a guardian of a child who has either been orphaned or whose parents have abandoned and failed to provide for the child. Section 2(1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 defines an orphan as a qualified childâ a. both of whose parents are dead, or b. one of whose parents is dead or unknown or has...
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Government is anxious to ensure that as many people as possible can be accommodated within the social welfare pensions system, with due regard being paid to the contributory principle underlying entitlement to contributory payments and, in the case of non-contributory payments, the need to ensure that resources are directed to those who are most in need. Over the last 10 years, means...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The legislative provisions relating to late claims for social welfare payments, including carer's benefit, are set out in Section 241 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 and in Regulations made under that section. These provisions set out the times within which a person must claim, the disqualifications which apply where a late claim is made and the circumstances in which the time...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Up until recently people signing for a jobseekers payment were offered a choice of payment method. They could collect it at a post office of their choice or have it paid directly to their bank or building society account. Late last year there were indications that a number of foreign jobseekers had returned to their own country but were continuing to have their payment made by Electronic...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland's social welfare system is based on two quite different types of entitlement â a social insurance system for people who have paid sufficient PRSI contributions and a social assistance system for people without adequate contributions who have little or no household means of their own. Social insurance is intended both to enable people to insure themselves...
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 159, 174 and 180 together. Supplementary pension coverage for workers in general was 54% in the first quarter of 2008. Coverage for the key target group, those aged 30 years and over stood at 61%. The National Pensions Awareness Campaign has been run by the Pensions Board on behalf of the Department annually since 2003. In the current year a total of...
- Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Combating poverty and building an inclusive society are key priorities for the Government. The overall goal of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (NAPinclusion) introduced in February 2007 is to reduce the number of those experiencing consistent poverty to between 2 % and 4 % by 2012, with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty by 2016. These commitments and the social inclusion...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (21 Oct 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The social welfare related measures in Budget 2009 were subjected to a Poverty Impact Assessment in accordance with guidelines issued by the Office for Social Inclusion in March of this year. Poverty Impact Assessment is the process by which government departments, local authorities and State Agencies assess policies and programmes at design, implementation and review stages in relation to...