Results 20,461-20,480 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Maternity Benefit (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: Maternity benefit is an income maintenance payment awarded to eligible women for a 26-week period on foot of a confinement. Entitlement to this benefit for employees is contingent on entitlement to statutory maternity leave. In 2012 there were 45,129 recipients under the scheme, down from 48,413 in 2011. My Department spent €303 million on maternity benefit payments in 2012, down...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Placements (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: Jobbridge is the National internship scheme introduced in July 2011 as a means of giving unemployed people an opportunity to secure work experience and to prove their competence to prospective employers. Under the scheme unemployed people and people with disabilities can secure work experience of either six or nine months and receive a top-up of €50 onto their weekly social welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The contract for the delivery of cash payment services to customer which is currently with An Post, expires on 31 December, 2013. In anticipation of this, the Department is undertaking two public procurement competitions for the delivery of welfare payments. The first procurement competition is seeking over the counter cash services for social welfare customers. This procurement was...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 97 together. The total cost of the Electricity/Gas allowance in 2013 is estimated at €176m with 405,000 recipients. The total cost of the Telephone allowance in 2013 is estimated at €48.1m with 395,000 recipients. My Department meets regularly with the energy and telecommunication providers to ensure the smooth operation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The poverty reduction effect after social transfers demonstrates that the social protection system is protecting children at risk. From 2004 to 2010 (most recent data for children), the poverty reduction effect of social transfers for children’s at-risk-of-poverty rate increased from 43 per cent to 62 per cent. This reflects concerted State intervention and investment in the social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: My Department is currently preparing a Social Impact Assessment of the main taxation and welfare changes announced in Budget 2013. This will include an analysis of the distributive and poverty impacts of these changes on different family types including those with children as well as the impact on at risk of poverty levels. This process is nearing completion and I hope to publish the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Issues (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: Given the scale of the unemployment crisis, the key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments. Accordingly the employment services provided by the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Reform (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 109 together. The reforms to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme aim to prevent long-term dependence on social welfare support and, while recognising parental choice with regard to the care of children, include an expectation of participation in education, training, and employment by lone parents. The reformed scheme brings Ireland’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The Action Plan for Jobs 2013, published by my colleague Richard Bruton T.D. Minister for Enterprise Jobs and Innovation on 22 February 2013, outlines 333 actions to be implemented before 31st December 2013 by 16 Departments and 46 agencies. These actions will continue to improve supports for job-creating businesses and remove the barriers to employment-creation across the economy....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Reform (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: Analysis of 2011 and 2012 figures indicates that an average of just 13%, or less than 1,600 per year, of those awarded State pension (transition) (SPT), came from employment in the period immediately prior to SPT. State pension reform is essential to ensure sustainability and to address the challenges of changing demographics including increasing life expectancy. The abolition of SPT...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy will be aware, the ‘Pathways to Work’ policy commits to the provision of more regular and on-going engagement and greater targeting of activation places and job opportunities for those who are unemployed. It also aims to increase engagement and incentivise employers to provide more jobs for people who are unemployed. INTREO is the new integrated employment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseekers' Benefit Payments (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The duration of jobseeker's benefit will be reduced by 3 months with effect from 3 April 2013. For people with 260 or more PRSI contributions paid, it will reduce from 12 months to 9 months. For people with fewer than 260 PRSI contributions paid, it will reduce from 9 months to 6 months. Claimants getting jobseeker's benefit for 6 months or more on 3 April 2013 (or 3 months for people with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Illness Benefit Eligibility (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of illness benefit is to provide income support - during relatively short spells of incapacity or illness - for people of working age who are unable to work due to illness and who satisfy certain social insurance conditions. In relation to the duration for which illness benefit is payable, an OECD review entitled “Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers”...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that appeals where medical grounds are identified as an issue under appeal are referred in first instance to the Department's Medical Assessors for a second medical assessment and any further investigation, examination or assessment by the Department's Inspectors and Medical Assessors that is deemed necessary. The second medical assessment is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 103, 106, 107, 108 and 117 together. There are currently approximately 86,700 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided €403 million in 2013. The table shows the number of rent supplement recipients at end 2011 and 2012. Revised rent limits are in place since January 2012 and are applicable to all new rent supplement...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 122 together. The Intreo service was formally launched in October 2012 and is being rolled out across the country in 2013 and 2014. Intreo is a single point of contact for all employment and income supports. It is designed to provide a more streamlined approach for jobseekers. In parallel with the development of an integrated service for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Statistics (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: At present, my Department is not in a position to provide a breakdown of the redundancy statistics by county, sector or gender. Work on the reporting facility of the redundancy payments system is on-going and it is hoped that it will be possible to provide these types of data in the near future. Information on the overall number of redundancy applications received by the Department is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Redundancy Payments (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the redundancy payments scheme is to compensate workers, under the Redundancy Payments Acts, for the loss of their jobs by reason of redundancy. Under the scheme, an eligible employee is entitled to two weeks’ pay for every year of service, plus a bonus week, subject to a gross weekly salary ceiling of €600. It is the employer’s responsibility to pay...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Proposed Legislation (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: Any broadening of the current provisions of the Civil Registration Act 2004 will require careful consideration. A number of proposed amendments to the Act are under consideration in my Department and in this regard it is hoped that legislation will be introduced in 2013.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Enterprise Initiatives (5 Mar 2013)

Joan Burton: The proposal to which the Deputy refers is for a Youth Entrepreneurship Fund to be administered by Enterprise Ireland. Any decisions on this would be a matter for that agency and the Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation. My Department supports entrepreneurship on the part of unemployed people, who have been on certain welfare payments for more than 12 months, through the Back to Work...