Results 17,581-17,600 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: 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 available to them from any other source. There are currently almost 90,000 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 51% since the end of...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 641 and 642 together. The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the following tabular statement.

Written Answers — Departmental Contracts: Departmental Contracts (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy for the time period involved is not readily available and cannot be assembled without significant commitment of staff resources and consequential administrative costs. If the Deputy wishes to contact the Department with a query in relation to a specific contract he will be provided with the relevant information.

Written Answers — Departmental Contracts: Departmental Contracts (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Office of Public Works (OPW) are responsible for property acquisition, project design, construction of new buildings and all major refurbishment projects on behalf of the Department and deal directly with contractors in that context and I have no function whatsoever in the matter.

Written Answers — Adoption Services: Adoption Services (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The provisions governing the registration of domestic adoptions and the issue of birth certificates drawn from the register of adoptions are set out in section 22 of the Adoption Act, 1952. Under these provisions, the Registrar General is charged with maintaining an Adopted Children Register and also to keep an index to make traceable the connection between each entry and the corresponding...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The mortgage interest supplement scheme is designed to help those who have difficulty meeting their mortgage repayment schedule where their means are insufficient to meet their needs. The scheme provides a short-term "safety net" within the overall social welfare scheme to ensure that people do not suffer hardship due to loss of employment. A supplement may be paid in respect of mortgage...

Written Answers — Child Support: Child Support (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take questions numbers 650, 651, 690, 691, 704 and 705 together. As the Deputy will be aware, the rates of child benefit have increased significantly since 2001 having trebled for the first two children and increased by over 185% for the third and subsequent children. Overall expenditure on child benefit grew from just under €965 million in 2001 to nearly €2.5 billion in...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 652 to 656, inclusive, together. Child Benefit The number and value of Child Benefit payments made to children resident outside the State from 2004 to date is as detailed in Table 1. EU Migrant workers have an entitlement to Child Benefit and other "Family benefits" under EU Regulation 1408/71. Where a national of an EU state with a family is working in...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 657 to 661, inclusive, together. Approximately 620 staff at local, regional and national level are engaged on a full or part-time basis on work related to the control of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system. About half of these work full time on control work, while the other half are responsible for routine investigations under the various schemes and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The overpayment information for years 2004 to 2008 requested by the Deputy is set-down in the tabular statements. The figures for 2008 are provisional. In 2006 a new debt management strategy was developed for the Department. The overall goal of this strategy is to actively pursue the recovery of debt to maximise recovery levels, with due regard to value for money and with particular emphasis...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The number of people who requested transfer of their Jobseeker Benefit, in line with EU Regulations, to their home country since 1 January 2009 is 2,479. The maximum length of time that a person can transfer their benefit entitlement to another country is seventy eight days (13 weeks). The Department has reciprocal arrangements in place with five EU Member States whereby reimbursement of...

Written Answers — Budget Allocations: Budget Allocations (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The following table provides the budget allocation to the Department of Social and Family Affairs as published in the Revised Estimates Volume each year from 2000 to 2009. The amount for 2008 takes account of the Supplementary Estimate approved by the Dail for that year. Year Budget Allocation IR£m 2000 5,360 2001 6,096 €m 2002 9,408 2003 10,230 2004 11,275 2005 12,199...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Funding for the Family Support Agency amounts to almost €36 million for 2009. The main functions of the Agency include:- The Family and Community Services Resource Centre (FRC) Programme The scheme of grants to voluntary organisations providing marriage, child and bereavement counselling and related services The Family Mediation Service Funding for the FRC Programme amounts to over €18...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: On 8 July 2008 the Minister for Finance announced a range of measures which would be taken across the public service to control expenditure in 2008 to achieve savings on the Revised Estimates previously agreed for the public service. In the case of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the expenditure control measures being undertaken were intended to achieve savings of €29.796...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department has a major programme of business, organisational and technological change underway to enable it to modernise the services which it provides to its customers. Ensuring that the potential of Information Technology is fully utilised is a significant aspect of this. Major IT projects require a high level of specialised technical expertise that often is not available within the...

Written Answers — State Agencies: State Agencies (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The four statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are the Pensions Board, the Citizens Information Board, the Family Support Agency and the Social Welfare Tribunal. In addition the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department. The Combat Poverty Agency has been integrated into the Office of Social Inclusion in the Department since 1 July 2009. The information...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Details of current working groups are set out in the table. Name of Board/Agency Name of Working Group established by the Minister Purpose of Group Date Report Due Department of Social & Family Affairs Working Group to Review the Disability Allowance Scheme To review the disability allowance scheme having regard to its objectives and the extent to which they are being achieved. Q4 2009...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 670 and 671 together. The National Employment Action Plan/Job Search, operated jointly with FÁS, is the main activation measure for jobseeker's. It has been in operation since 1998 and has proven successful in that period in assisting people on the live register back into employment. It provides for a systematic engagement of the employment services with...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The facilitator service is available locally to all social welfare recipients via the local office network. Facilitators hold open clinics and meet with people who have been referred either by the social welfare local office or by other agencies. In addition, cases are selected and referred to facilitators by employment support section. An appointment can be made by contacting the facilitator...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Jul 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 674 and 675 together. Participants on the back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme transfer from another social welfare payment. Annual statistics are collated by the department for the number of participants on the basis of the relevant academic year. Statistics are not collated centrally on the number of applications received or the number who are refused...