Results 20,141-20,160 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Guardian's Payment Applications (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: One of the conditions for receipt of guardian’s payment is that the child concerned must meet the legislative definition of "orphan" as contained in Section 2(1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005:"orphan! means a qualified child—(a ) both of whose parents are dead, or (b ) one of whose parents is dead or unknown or has abandoned and failed to provide for the child,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 26 February 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 4 April...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: Applications for support from Mayo based community organisations in respect of Tús and the rural social scheme are managed by South West Mayo Development Company Limited and Mayo North East LEADER Partnership Company. Údarás na Gaeltachta manages these schemes in the Gaeltacht areas of Mayo. Each company operates its own applications process, details of which are available on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 15 March 2013, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme is a second chance education opportunities scheme. It is designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third-level education by enabling eligible people on certain social welfare payments to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course that leads to a higher qualification than that already...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Industrial Relations Issues (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned was originally a participant on the Job Initiative scheme sponsored by KWCD Partnership and, in 2004, she became directly employed by the Partnership where she provided administrative support to the scheme. This Job Initiative scheme is now sponsored by Dublin 12 Congress Centre and it is funded by this Department. The Department agreed to grant to the person concerned...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The number of applications currently awaiting a decision for carer's allowance is just over 4,000. A significant number of these have already been processed and are awaiting additional information in order to make a decision. Substantial backlogs of Carers application have been cleared and we are currently in the process of finalising cases that still need additional information.. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Applications (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Medical Review and Assessment system is the principal control mechanism for illness and disability schemes administered by the Department of Social Protection. All medical assessments for invalidity pension and disability allowance are carried out by the Department’s Medical Assessors who present their medical opinions from the assessment for the guidance of the Deciding Officers...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Application Numbers (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: There are approximately 6,600 applications for disability allowance awaiting decision of which some 5,500 are new applications. A recent analysis of the applications pending decision indicated that approximately 60% of them had been waiting for a decision for 12 weeks or fewer. Following the completion of a major service delivery modernisation programme, disability allowance has recently...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Application Numbers (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: There is no backlog of Invalidity claims at present. As at the end of March 2013 there were 2,627 Invalidity Pension (IP) claims registered, actioned and awaiting information to finalise a decision. This includes approximately 660 cases which are being investigated under EU regulations or bi-lateral agreements. These cases are more complex and take longer to decide. Approximately 220 new...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Supplement Eligibility (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: Mortgage interest supplement (MIS) 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. There are currently approximately 13,000 mortgage interest supplement recipients for which the Government has provided some €42 million for in 2013. To ensure that those who...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 3rd August 2012. This application was referred to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors who considered that the child was not medically eligible for DCA. A letter issued on the 26th September 2012 outlining the decision to refuse the allowance. The person concerned subsequently...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Places (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is currently employed on a Community Employment (CE) Scheme under the Part Time Integration Option and is due to finish on 26 June 2013. He does not have the required three year history in order to be eligible for participation for a further year. Under the current guidelines, to be considered for re-entry to CE once you have exited, a period of 12 months need to have...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer having fully considered all the available evidence disallowed the appeal of the person concerned by way of summary decision. The person concerned was notified of the Appeals Officer decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Appeals (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned will be contacted this week regarding the Exceptional Needs Payment review.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 20th March 2013, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 20th March 2013, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 638 and 646 together. 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 any other source. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Household Benefits (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: My Department provides a number of supports to carers. The two main weekly income support payments are the means tested carer’s allowance (including half-rate carer’s allowance) paid to almost 54,000 people and the PRSI based carer’s benefit paid to almost 1,700 people. In addition to these payments, non-resident carers continue to be entitled to the annual respite...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (16 Apr 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal, by the person concerned, was registered in that office on 03rd April 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When received, the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will...