Results 15,701-15,720 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Insolvency Payments Scheme: Insolvency Payments Scheme (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: A claim under the Insolvency payment scheme was submitted manually on behalf of the person concerned on 22 September 2011 in respect of arrears of wages. The Department is currently processing manually submitted claims received at the end of July 2011. Every effort is being made to process claims as quickly as possible but, unfortunately, it is likely to be a number of months before the...

Written Answers — National Internship Scheme: National Internship Scheme (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The National Internship Scheme was launched on 1 July 2011. It provides internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months for unemployed individuals on the Live Register, at all skills levels. The aim of JobBridge is to assist individuals in breaking the cycle where they are unable to get a job without experience. It provides them with an opportunity to gain valuable experience, relevant...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer having fully considered all the available evidence, including that adduced at oral hearing, disallowed the appeal of the person concerned. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the...

Written Answers — Invalidity Pension: Invalidity Pension (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: Invalidity pension is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the contribution conditions. This department received a claim for invalidity pension for the person concerned. The medical evidence provided by the claimant in support of his claim was examined by a medical assessor who was of the opinion that the person...

Written Answers — Jobseeker's Allowance: Jobseeker's Allowance (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 10 February 2012. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office and the...

Written Answers — Regulatory Impact Assessments: Regulatory Impact Assessments (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: My Department carried out one regulatory impact analysis (RIA) during the period in question, following a Government decision in October 2011, in relation to the proposed changes to defined benefit pension schemes included in the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012. The RIA was split into two parts: Part 1 dealt with the changes to the defined benefit model and in particular the proposal to...

Written Answers — Disability Allowance: Disability Allowance (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all the evidence, disallowed the appeal of the person concerned by way of summary decision. Under Social Welfare legislation, the decision of the Appeals Officer is final and conclusive and may only be reviewed by the Appeals Officer in the light of new evidence or new facts. Following the...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: Following reductions in the Training and Materials Grant on Community Employment (CE), as announced in Budget, an initial review of the financial resources of all schemes was undertaken. Standard templates were developed and issued to all CE projects. Discussions were held between local CE Sponsors, including Moygownagh Enterprise CE Scheme, and the Departmental Officers responsible for the...

Written Answers — Rent Supplement: Rent Supplement (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: Rent Supplement was temporarily suspended due to the failure of the person concerned to reduce their rent to the prescribed limits. The person concerned has now reduced her rent accordingly. In order to alleviate the concerns of the client and landlord, the Department has issued arrears by Exceptional Needs Payment for March and April. Rent Supplement for May will issue in due course.

Written Answers — Carer's Allowance: Carer's Allowance (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 6 February 2012. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office and the...

Written Answers — Domiciliary Care Allowance: Domiciliary Care Allowance (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: Customers who have their entitlement to domiciliary care allowance (DCA) reviewed are asked to provide relevant up-to-date medical evidence and details of the additional care needs of their child within 60 days. The information provided by the parent/guardian for review is assessed by a medical assessor and a decision is made based on the medical opinion they provide. Where payment is...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: I would like to re-iterate the policy background to the necessary changes to State Pension provision. With increases in life expectancy, more people are living to pension age and living longer in retirement. The period for which an average pension will be paid will be greater than the period for which a pension is paid at present. This has obvious and significant implications in relation to...

Written Answers — Medical Certification Fees: Medical Certification Fees (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 310 and 311 together. As part of Budget 2012, it was announced that a reduction of 10% in the administrative cost of medical certification would be achieved this year. This is being achieved through a reduction in the number of medical certificates that doctors are required to issue. The frequency of certification by a person's doctor has been reduced in...

Written Answers — Dental and Optical Benefit Scheme: Dental and Optical Benefit Scheme (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The Dental and Optical Benefit schemes have been limited to the provision of free dental and optical examinations since 1 January 2010. Treatments previously covered under the schemes, such as fillings, extractions, spectacles and lenses, have not been paid on claims approved on or after that date. The current treatments, associated fees and the total 2011 cost in each instance are detailed...

Written Answers — Domiciliary Care Allowance: Domiciliary Care Allowance (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 27 October 2011. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office and the...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The three statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are the Social Welfare Tribunal, the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board. In addition, the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department but it does not have a Board. Social Welfare Tribunal The Social Welfare Tribunal consists of a Chairperson and four ordinary members, two on the...

Written Answers — Invalidity Pension: Invalidity Pension (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal, by the person concerned, was registered in that office on 14 April 2012. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When received, the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will...

Written Answers — Domiciliary Care Allowance: Domiciliary Care Allowance (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: I can assure the Deputy that all correspondence issuing from the Department's domiciliary care allowance section contains the staff member's name and their contact details.

Written Answers — Domiciliary Care Allowance: Domiciliary Care Allowance (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: Domiciliary care allowance (DCA) is now in payment in respect of 26,000 children, an increase of over 3,000 since the Department took over responsibility for the scheme from the HSE in April 2009. Spending on the Scheme and the respite care grant, which is automatically paid to all recipients, has increased from €138m to €145m between 2010 and 2011. Expenditure on both payments in 2012...

Written Answers — Rent Supplement: Rent Supplement (15 May 2012)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source. The overall aim is to provide short-term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes...