Results 17,701-17,720 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme (SWA), which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive. Payment of the basic rate of SWA is designed to provide immediate and flexible assistance for those in need who do not qualify for payment under other State schemes and have no other income available to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 91 together. The transfer of the Domiciliary Care Allowance scheme from the Health Service Executive to this Department arises from a Government decision on 28th February 2006 to reallocate certain functions between Departments and Agencies as part of the health service reform programme. The Department of Social and Family Affairs took over...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Medical Appliance Benefit Scheme offers assistance towards the cost of the purchase of a hearing aid, either analogue or digital. The Department pays up to half the cost of a hearing aid or repairs to a hearing aid, subject to a fixed maximum contribution of €760 per aid. To qualify for Medical Appliance Benefit you must satisfy certain PRSI conditions. A person aged 66 or over must...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the person concerned furnished her grounds of appeal and in accordance with statutory requirements the relevant Departmental papers and comments of the Department were sought. These are now to hand and will be referred to an Appeals Officer for early consideration. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of the Department that is...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: 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 2009 Supplementary Budget introduced new arrangements for access to rent supplement. In order to qualify for a rent...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the appeal from the person concerned has been referred to an Appeals Officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing. The person concerned will be informed when arrangements have been made. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of the Department that is independently responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that, in accordance with statutory requirements, the relevant Departmental papers and comments of the Department have been sought in this case. On receipt of its response the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer for early consideration. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of the Department that is independently responsible...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The person concerned submitted an application for Jobseekers Allowance on 24 August 2009. Payment of Jobseeker's Allowance is subject to a means test and in this regard the file has been referred to a Social Welfare Inspector. An appointment has been scheduled with the Inspector for 24 September 2009.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the appeal from the person concerned has been referred to an Appeals Officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing. The person concerned will be informed when arrangements have been made. The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an office of the Department that is independently responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Sep 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an oral hearing of this case took place on 30 June 2009. The person concerned undertook to forward further documentation in support of her appeal and has since been in touch to say that she is having some difficulty in obtaining some of this documentation. When this documentation is received a decision will be made by the Appeals Officer...

Written Answers — National Carers Strategy: National Carers Strategy (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 831and 852 together. The Government is acutely aware and appreciative of the contribution made by carers to people needing ongoing care and support. In recognition of this, considerable improvements have been made in recent years in services and supports for carers. Over the past decade, weekly payment rates to carers have greatly increased, qualifying...

Written Answers — Equal Opportunities Employment: Equal Opportunities Employment (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The disability criteria will apply to the new decentralised public office in County Donegal as one of many locations in the Department, to which the employment criteria on staff with disabilities applies. The target of 3% for the employment of people with a disability under Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 is an overall target for the Department. It is not a requirement for individual...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, an exceptional needs payment may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Each application is...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: In order to qualify for Domiciliary Care Allowance a child must have a disability so severe that they require care and attention and/or supervision substantially in excess of that normally required by a child of the same age. This care and attention must be provided by another person, effectively full time, so as to allow the child deal with the activities of daily living. The child must be...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 835 and 842 together. The proposal to discontinue the Dental Treatment Benefit Scheme will be considered as part of the Estimates and Budget process for 2010. This will include consideration of the report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, and the decisions on all of the issues arising will be a matter for the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Christmas Bonus payment was introduced in December, 1980, for social welfare pensioners and people in receipt of long term social welfare payments. There have been a number of developments in this scheme since its inception, including upward and downward adjustments in the level of the bonus payment. Each year the Government makes a decision on the payment of the Christmas Bonus having...

Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 837 and 843 together. Current estimates indicate that the abolition of the PRSI ceiling would yield some €119.5 million additional contribution income in a full year. Under the PRSI system, social insurance contributions are compulsorily payable by employers and employed and self-employed workers. In relation to employee's contributions, the amount payable...

Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 838 and 839 together. Pay related social insurance is not a tax. Therefore additional revenue raised from any change to the PRSI system goes directly to the social insurance fund rather than the Exchequer. The payment of PRSI primarily relates to income derived from reckonable earnings from employment or self-employment. The Commission on Taxation has...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The Executive has advised that the persons concerned made an application for rent supplement but no decision has been made on the application to date. An industrial dispute involving some of the Community...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Oct 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 841 and 859 together. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The Executive has advised that the person concerned was in receipt of rent supplement until 1 August 2009. She has made a new application for rent...