Results 21,101-21,120 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: My Department administers a range of social insurance and assistance schemes to cater for the support needs of its customers. These schemes are contingency based and are designed to address particular circumstance such as involuntary unemployment, illness, disability, reaching pension age etc. Entitlement to payment depends on the individual circumstances of the customer concerned and in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 408, 412 to 414, inclusive, 423 and 426 together. Young people, typically, suffer disproportionately from job losses in recessions as they tend to have entered employment more recently, are more likely to hold temporary contracts and to be employed in cyclically sensitive industries than older workers. There were 71,000 young unemployed, on average, in the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Action Plan for Jobs (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 409 to 411, inclusive, 416, 422 and 425 together. The unemployment rate is currently 14.6% and while it has stabilised after several years of increases, the rate remains unacceptably high. It is of additional concern that long-term unemployment (defined as being unemployed for a year or more) accounted for 60% (193,000) of total unemployment in Q3 2012, and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: One of the disruptive reforms under the Action Plan for Jobs suggests that the existing employer job PRSI exemption and Revenue job assist schemes be replaced by a single scheme which is simplified, easier to administer and targeted at the long term unemployed. Senior officials in my Department in conjunction with colleagues from other relevant Departments are engaged in on-going discussions...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Payments (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The number of recipients of the back to education allowance (BTEA) in the 2012/2013 academic year is approximately 25,800 which represents an increase of over 190% on the numbers participating in the 2007/2008 academic year. Expenditure in 2013 is expected to be over €189 million, compared to over €77m in 2008. Approximately 58% of people on BTEA are male and 42% are female. ...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Losses (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: It is understood that some or all of the employees concerned may be in a lay-off situation. The Department is not aware of any of the employees concerned having been made redundant to date. Jobseeker's benefit is a weekly payment to people out of work and covered by social insurance. To qualify for jobseeker's benefit a person must: - be unemployed; - be under 66 years of age; - have...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 421 and 424 together. Underemployment is defined as employment where people are 1. Working part-time 2. Willing to work additional hours 3. Available to work additional hours. There has been a significant rise in the numbers classified as underemployed in recent years, with the latest figures showing almost 148,000 people, 1 in 3 part-time workers being...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Personal Insolvency Act (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The Personal Insolvency Act 2012 provides for a Debt Relief Notice for persons with no assets or income with unsecured debts of up to €20,000. With the assistance of an approved intermediary, a person may apply for a Debt Relief Notice which will allow for the full write-off of qualifying unsecured debt after a three year supervision period.The Citizens Information Board, which has the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income 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 aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Payments (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: In Budget 2013 the Minister for Finance announced that, with effect from 2014, PRSI will be payable on income generated from wealth such as rental income, investment income, dividends and interest on deposits and savings. It is not possible at this early stage to provide details of the impact of the measure on different forms of income. However, in general, the rules which apply to income...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Rates (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The person in question is currently receiving carer’s allowance for two children. The weekly carer’s allowance payment the person in question is receiving is €330.50 per week. This payment consists of a personal rate of €204 for the first caree, €102 for the second caree, and payments of €14.90 half rate for each of her five children. This total...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Applications (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is in receipt of invalidity pension since 15 September 2011. In order to qualify for the national fuel scheme, applicants must satisfy a means assessment and be living alone or only with persons who satisfy specific criteria. On 24 May 2012, in order to determine entitlement to free fuel allowance, the person in question was asked for details regarding employment with...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all the evidence, including that adduced at oral hearing, has allowed the appeal of the person concerned. The person concerned has been notified of the 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: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The rent allowance claim of the person concerned is currently under review. A written request for information was sent to her on 9th January 2013 and a reminder letter issued on 21st January 2013. To enable the rent allowance review to be completed, the person concerned should submit the information requested or contact her local community welfare service office.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: In July 2008 the Labour Court recommended that an agreed pension scheme should be introduced for Community Employment (CE) scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors, and that such a scheme should be adequately funded by FÁS (LCR19293). It must also be noted that the employer in this situation is the sponsoring organisation and not FÁS (or the Department of Social Protection,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received on the 18th January 2013 from the person concerned. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Upon receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified. It can currently take up to 8 weeks to process an application...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rural social scheme (RSS) is to provide income support for farmers and fisherpersons who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments. Persons are engaged for 19½ hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. The scheme currently provides work opportunities for around 2,600 participants and 130 supervisory staff. I have no...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Payments (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is the safety net within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. SWA may be payable to customers awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare or Health Service Executive payment....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: The household benefits package comprises the electricity/gas allowance, the telephone allowance and the free television licence. The package is primarily available to older people, people with disabilities and carers. The allocation for the telephone allowance scheme has been reduced in 2013 as a cost saving measure. The estimated expenditure outturn on the telephone allowance in 2012 is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (29 Jan 2013)

Joan Burton: Good inroads have been made over the last number of months by my Department to clear the current backlog of carer’s allowance applications and a plan is in place to process the remaining backlogged claims by the end of Q1 2013. I am happy that the actions they are taking will achieve this. Following the completion of a major modernisation project, an in-depth business process...