Results 2,021-2,040 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen
- Written Answers — Energy Conservation: Energy Conservation (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: The information requested is currently being compiled within the Department and will be made available to the Deputy as soon as possible.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: The Deputy is making a fundamental point in respect of the existing support scheme. Effectively, she is saying that people should be paid for caring. That is the impact of what she is saying.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: We do not have unlimited resources and we are obliged to try to manage what resources we do possess in the best way possible. The Government has come a hell of a long way in recent years in the context of the supports provided for carers. The scheme has become much more flexible, it accommodates many more people and the income disregards relating to it are excellent. I will try to do more,...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: On the final point made by Deputy Shortall, people are not precluded from payment. All applicants, regardless of nationality, are required to be habitually resident in the State to qualify for carer's allowance. The question of what constitutes a person's habitual residence is decided in accordance with European Court of Justice case law, which sets out the criteria to be applied in...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I will give Deputies a flavour of these cases without mentioning names. A widow returned from the United Kingdom in 2005, having lived there since 1960, and applied for carer's allowance in October that year in respect of her two sons. She was asked to clarify details of her residency in the United Kingdom but no response was received. Her claim was refused on the grounds that she had...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I did not say the Deputy was.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: There is a great deal of logic behind it.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: Waiting days have been a feature of the illness benefit and jobseeker's payment schemes since their inception and are a feature of similar social security schemes in many countries. The application of a three-day waiting period avoids the disproportionately high administrative costs involved in processing large numbers of claims of short duration. The waiting day rule is not applied in...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: All social assistance payments are subject to a means test. This is a way of checking whether a person has enough means to support himself or herself and deciding the level of payment, if any, for which a person may qualify. Means are any income belonging to a claimant, or his or her partner. This includes property, except a family home or an asset that can provide a person with an income....
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I have good news for the Deputy.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I have taken the opportunity, in dealing with this, to go to some post offices, unannounced, to talk to customers. In fairness they seemed happy enough, although a few issues, here and there, were raised. One of the points made to me was that sometimes those who pronounce on such matters believe that once people reach 65 they become stupid and are not able to manage these things at all....
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I am talking about pension payments, the EIT payments which, either Deputy Shortall or Deputy Enright suggested the other day were restricted to 20 days. That is not the case â it is 60 days. Even if it falls outside that time limit, a customer may reapply and the money will be paid to him or her anyway.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I am not sure of the position as regards child benefit. Is the Deputy sure of this?
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I looked into this when it was raised by the Deputies and I was told it was 60 days. I have not been specific in my answer, apart from saying that it is so for pensions. However, there seems to be a question that it might not be 20 days either for children's allowance, but I shall check that.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: We discussed this issue on Committee Stage. The Deputy presents the case as if the individuals concerned were disadvantaged. I would not say they are because they receive the foster payment, which can be â¬319 per week for each child under 12 years and â¬346 per week for every child over the age of 12. One cannot receive both payments. The case outlined by the Deputy highlights an...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: I said to the Deputy that I would address the matter and I will do so in the context of the changes I will make in respect of the one-parent family payment. The Deputy's point is fair but I cannot make the change in isolation.
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: The Deputy said she would be brief and I will be equally so. We have had long debates on this issue. I will simply not grant an entitlement to child benefit to those who are not habitually resident in the country. It would be extraordinary to do so and I could not countenance it. As the Deputy rightly stated, I made the point that one could not deal with child benefit in isolation. The...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: We discussed this at length. As Deputy Enright stated, there is a review and we will wait for the results of it. There has been a substantial increase, from a static position, in recent times. The FIS is a good payment. It emphasises people working and those are the type of payments I think are important in terms of the poverty trap. I cannot accept the amendment. If the Deputy is...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: As I stated to Deputy Enright on Committee Stage, there are 180,000 children in over 88,000 households benefiting from this. The scheme involves a not insignificant amount of money. We have provided over â¬43 million for the scheme in 2008, but particularly in budget 2007 we increased the rates from the base of â¬180 for children between the ages of two and 11 to â¬200 and for those...
- Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (4 Mar 2008)
Martin Cullen: We strive to facilitate all of our customers in the shortest time possible. There can be specific factors in individual cases that can delay this process. The Department and my officials are keen to ensure that we apply best practice in dealing with our customers.