Results 16,581-16,600 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The rate of all weekly social welfare payments, including increases for qualified adults and children, was increased, not reduced, in the last Budget. Any changes in social welfare payments would have to be considered in a Budgetary context.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: There are no plans to amend the benefit and privilege rules. Any further improvements to the means testing arrangements for social welfare schemes generally, including the benefit and privilege assessment arrangements for the jobseeker's allowance and supplementary welfare allowance schemes, would have to be considered in a Budgetary context and having regard to available resources.
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The primary purpose of credited contributions is to preserve the continuity of a person's insurance record during periods when they are unable to work and pay PRSI in the normal way. In order to qualify for credited contributions, absences from work would generally have to be for reasons outside of the person's control, such as periods of proven illness or registered unemployment, or periods...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The back to work scheme was introduced to assist long term unemployed people, lone parents, and sickness related welfare recipients to return to active employment either by taking up employment or becoming self-employed. It is designed to support people who would not otherwise be able to return to the workforce for financial reasons. There are two strands to the scheme, the back to work...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: An unemployed person may qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance. Jobseeker's Benefit is based on a person's social insurance record Jobseeker's Allowance is based on weekly means. A fundamental qualifying condition for Jobseeker's Benefit is that an individual must be available for full time work. However, a person who engages in voluntary work within the State may continue...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 173 together. There are no plans to review means testing arrangements. Any further improvements to the means testing arrangements for social welfare schemes generally would have to be considered in a Budgetary context and having regard to available resources.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I have no plans to introduce a system to refund the cost of taxis under the free travel scheme. The free travel scheme provides pass holders with free travel on the main public and private transport services. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Ãtha Cliath, Bus Ãireann and Iarnród Ãireann, as well as LUAS and services provided by over 80 private...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. With over 31,000 people in receipt of rent supplement for 18 months or more, the rent supplement scheme has to be seen in the context of overall housing policy, particularly in the case of long-term claimants. In...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The value of rent supplement payments made to tenants whose landlords live outside the state represents no more than 1.5% of total expenditure on rent supplement in 2008. The value of rent supplement payments...
- Written Answers — Civil Registration: Civil Registration (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: I propose to take Questions Nos. 160 and 161 together. The person concerned has insufficient contributions paid to qualify for a contribution based payment at this time. The person concerned applied for jobseeker's allowance on 7 November 2008. On receipt of all the necessary documentation and information her claim was disallowed as she failed to satisfy the habitual residence condition...
- Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: 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 for a further 12 in early March. In addition to this a...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The back to work scheme was introduced to assist long term unemployed people, lone parents, and sickness related welfare recipients to return to active employment either by taking up employment or becoming self-employed. It is designed to support people who would not otherwise be able to return to the workforce for financial reasons. There are two strands to the scheme, the back to work...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned has been awarded jobseeker's allowance with effect from 18 December 2008 at the weekly rate of â¬443.90. This payment includes an increase in respect of a qualified adult and qualified children. His first payment including arrears will issue to him shortly. Under Social Welfare legislation decisions in relation to claims must be made by Deciding Officers and Appeals...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned is in receipt of jobseeker's benefit and his entitlement of 390 days is due to exhaust in April 2009. A claim form and all relevant papers necessary to enable him to apply for jobseeker's allowance issued on 2 February 2009 but have not yet been returned to the local office. When an application for jobseeker's allowance is received it will be examined in full and a...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned was refused jobseeker's allowance on 3rd February 2009. The deciding officer, having examined all the circumstances, considered that the person concerned did not satisfy the habitual residence condition as her centre of interest within Ireland and future intentions to remain in Ireland have not been clearly established, in view of her employment record here or any...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 170 together. This Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as expeditiously as possible. The staff and other resources available to the Department are regularly reviewed having regard to the workload arising and other...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: In Budget 2009, I increased the rate of carer's allowance for those aged 66 or over by â¬7 to â¬239 per week and for those aged under 66 by â¬6.50 to â¬220.50 per week. These increases took effect from January 2009. Recipients of carer's allowance are also eligible for household benefits and free travel and the respite care grant. Since 1997 weekly payment rates to carers have greatly...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The Estimates for the Department of Social and Family Affairs which were published with the 2009 Budget were based, in the main, on an analysis of trends as regards likely numbers of recipients and average value of payments in 2009. The estimates for jobseeker's Benefit and jobseeker's Allowance were based on the Department of Finance's prediction at that time of an average Live Register of...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (5 Mar 2009)
Mary Hanafin: The habitual residence condition was introduced in order to ensure that a person, who has had no attachment to the work force since arrival in Ireland and whose habitual residence is elsewhere, would not be entitled to payment under certain exchequer-funded schemes on arrival in Ireland. Irish nationals returning to live here on a permanent basis should experience no difficulty in...