Results 16,561-16,580 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Carer's Strategy: Carer's Strategy (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: During 2008 an interdepartmental group, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach, with secretariat support provided by my Department, undertook work to develop a national carers strategy. Unfortunately, in the current economic climate it is not possible to consider introducing any developments in services for carers at this time. In that context, rather than publishing a document which...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Social welfare payments are provided for by voted expenditure from the exchequer and the Social Insurance Fund. In the current economic climate the Government recognises that we must do all we can to support people who become unemployed. Social welfare payments are a crucial part of this support, but income support alone is not sufficient. We must also do all we can to help get people back...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 35 together. The Deputy will be aware that there has been a very significant increase in the number of people applying for a jobseeker's payment during the past year. From February 2008 to February 2009 the Live Register increased by about 165,000 people, or over 87%. Staff in social welfare local offices are working extremely hard and productivity...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Income chargeable to PRSI is, in general, defined in terms of income liable under Schedule E of the Income Tax Acts. Such income is generally derived from employment or self-employment. This income base is appropriate to the social insurance system as it is consistent with the contributory principle of the of the social insurance fund, whereby a relationship is established between the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Full social insurance cover was extended to part-time workers from April 1991. At that time a range of measures were introduced to ensure that the rate of Illness Benefit and jobseeker's Benefit payable would be proportionate to the persons income and PRSI contributions. They were also intended to ensure that disincentives to employment were not created. In the absence of these measures, a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Becoming unemployed and having to claiming a jobseeker's payment is extremely difficult for people. I am trying to ensure that the process of claiming is made as easy as it possibly can be. Therefore during 2008 we commenced a review of our processes and procedures surrounding the claim-taking and decisions process. To date the following initiatives have been introduced: A new streamlined...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 43 together. Branch offices are operated by private individuals on a contract basis and all staff employed in branch offices are recruited directly by the branch managers. Under the terms of their contract, branch managers are required to review their staffing levels to ensure that they allow for the efficient performance of the work of the office. The...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Employment under a contract of service as a miner is insurable for occupational injuries benefit under the Social Welfare Acts. Miners who are unable to work due to an accident arising from their employment may be entitled to occupational injury benefit for the first 26 weeks of their claim. The occupational injuries scheme, operated by the Department, provides entitlement to benefit for...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 49 and 74 together. In May 2008 an additional 31 staff were assigned to local offices to deal with the increased volume of claims all of these staff are in place. Following on from this a further staffing review was undertaken in October and an additional 115 were allocated. By late February 83 of these staff were in place and start dates have been agreed...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Overtime in Local Offices is used for many purposes including providing cover for staff absences, for dealing with large blocks of work which arise on an occasional or seasonal basis and for dealing with backlogs. In 2008 a sum of €1,050,000 was allocated for overtime in the Departments 8 regions which manage the local office network. This allocation was increased during the course of the...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I understand that the Deputy is concerned in particular about the current arrangements applying in the case of old age pension where a landholder leases land or is otherwise in possession of land which is fallow or idle. In 2006 the State pension (non-contributory) replaced a range of non-contributory payments for persons aged 66 and over including the old age pension. A wide range of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 62 together. The school meals programme gives funding towards the provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes. The first is the statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department of Social & Family Affairs. The second is the school meals local projects scheme...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the department by the Health Service Executive (HSE), as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. 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 their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme is designed to help those in receipt of a social welfare payment who have not worked for some time to improve their employability and job-readiness by acquiring educational qualifications. It is in recognition of the special difficulties which such persons can face when attempting to gain a foothold in the labour market. The back to education...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The range of benefits and pensions to which different groups of workers may establish entitlement reflects the risks associated with the nature of their work. This in turn reflects the rate of contribution payable. Self-employed people are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 3% and are consequently eligible for a narrower range of benefits than general employees who, together with their...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Widow's or widower's contributory pension is paid to the husband or wife of a deceased person and is available to those who satisfy the necessary PRSI contribution conditions, either on their own record or on that of the deceased spouse. A means-tested widow's or widower's non-contributory pension may be payable to those who do not satisfy the social insurance conditions. If the person has...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 65 together. The Family Income Supplement (FIS) is designed to provide support for people with families who are on low earnings. This preserves the incentive for them to remain in employment in circumstances where they might only be marginally better off than if they were claiming other social welfare payments. The extent to which a worker may avail of...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: This issue was the subject of a High Court judgement concerning the rights of a person, who has undergone gender reassignment surgery, to recognition of her acquired gender. On foot of a High Court judgement, delivered on 19 October 2007, the judge made a declaration, pursuant to Section 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003, that Sections 25, 63 and 64 of the Civil...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The vast bulk of expenditure by the Department of Social and Family Affairs is incurred on social welfare payments to individual recipients based on predetermined qualifying conditions and rates of payment. The expenditure, which is demand-led, is driven by a range of economic, social and demographic factors. There can also be complex interactions between schemes. The Estimates for the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The national fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive (HSE) payments with meeting the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. The allowance which has been increased by €2 to €20 (€23.90 in designated smokeless zones) per week from January 2009 benefits almost 300,000 households and represents a contribution towards...