Results 1,981-2,000 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan
- Social Welfare Benefits. (10 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: That is what I want to do.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (10 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: However, I do not have the luxury of ignoring what the Attorney General or the Commission say. I must take account of what both institutions say. As the Deputy is aware, I removed the peak time restrictions recently and in the coming period it will be possible to give full details on the expansion of the North-South travel. We will then have sorted those two problems. I am as committed...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (10 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: I will give the Deputy's suggestion some thought.
- Social Welfare Code. (10 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108, 122, 151, 175, 196, 201 and 203 together. The package of reforms and initiatives aimed at supporting lone parents is based on the Government discussion paper Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents, which I launched in March this year. The discussion paper sought to address the increased risk of social exclusion and poverty faced by lone parents and...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under age 66 who are in receipt of certain disability type welfare payments, such...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) and the mortgage interest supplement scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). The Executive has advised that it has disallowed an application by the person concerned for the back to school clothing and footwear allowance as her total household income was...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: Under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf 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. Each application is determined by the Executive based on the particular...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: People participating in approved courses under the back-to-education allowance scheme receive a standard weekly rate of payment equivalent to the maximum rate of their previous social welfare payment. The scheme also provides for the retention of entitlement to secondary benefits, such as rent or mortgage interest supplements under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme. This is...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes mortgage interest supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. A mortgage interest supplement provides short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (4 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people who are providing certain elderly or incapacitated persons with full time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a certain limit. In line with other social assistance schemes, a means test is applied to the carer's allowance so as to ensure that limited resources are directed to those in...
- Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (4 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The issues raised will be addressed and a reply issued directly to the correspondent shortly, a copy of which will be forwarded to the Deputy.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (4 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: Disability allowance is payable to people whose employment capacity is substantially restricted because of a disability and whose income falls below certain limits. Entitlement to the allowance is subject to the person satisfying both a means test and the medical eligibility criteria that apply and these are prescribed in legislation. The medical criteria which must be satisfied in order to...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (4 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance (BSCFA) scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. A person may qualify for payment of a back to school clothing and footwear allowance if he or she is in receipt of a social welfare or health service executive payment, is participating in an approved employment scheme...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: Some 264,400 people â 145,800 with basic fuel allowance and 118,600 with smokeless fuel supplement â benefited from the national fuel scheme in 2005 at a cost of â¬85.4 million. It is estimated that some 274,000 people â 151,000 with basic fuel allowance and 123,000 with smokeless fuel supplement â will benefit in 2006 at an estimated annual cost â¬125.1 million.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The living alone allowance or living alone increase as it is now known, is an additional payment of â¬7.70 per week made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone. It is also available to people under 66 years of age who are living alone and who receive payments under one of a number of invalidity type schemes. The...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: My Department is committed to providing a quality customer service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the relevant eligibility conditions. Entitlement to carer's allowance is based on the applicant satisfying medical, means and residency conditions....
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under age 66 who are in receipt of certain disability type welfare payments, such...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: The person concerned applied for disability allowance on 10 April 2006. The deciding officer disallowed the claim on 30 June 2006 on the grounds that the person's means exceeded the means limits for that scheme. The means in question are derived from farming, where there is a disregard of the first â¬580 of weekly income for a married couple in carers cases, while claimants for disability...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: I recently announced that all time based restrictions on travel on public transport services for holders of free travel passes were officially lifted with effect from 25 September 2006. This has removed morning and evening peak-times restrictions for holders of free travel passes, which have been in existence for almost 40 years.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (3 Oct 2006)
Séamus Brennan: It is CIE policy to restrict free travel pass holders to day return tickets only, when travelling by train. Where a return journey is not made on the same day CIE policy dictates that a single journey ticket is required for each journey, while any change in this policy is a matter for CIE, the issue is being taken up by my officials.