Results 23,181-23,200 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: In the case of five or six people renting together, it would be normal that only one of those renters would be in receipt of rent allowance. We have changed the system to require, from this year, that the person receiving rent allowance makes an equivalent contribution to what he or she would be paying in a local authority house. Therefore, we have addressed that issue. If the Senator is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: Deputy O'Dea asked another question I did not answer, regarding how many staff from other Departments have come to the Department of Social Protection. I understand that in recent years approximately 200 staff have moved to our Department, but I will try to get more accurate details for the Deputy. These have come mainly from the Department of Agriculture, Marine and Food, the National...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: We had 5,000 before we took in the extra people. We have approximately 6,700 now, but I need to get the whole-time equivalent figures for the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: Yes. The whole-time equivalent figure is 6,744. On the number of people targeting fraud, the main focus in the initiative is on working smarter, with better on-the-ground co-operation. It must be borne in mind also that large numbers of the public have been very helpful to us in identifying areas where they believe there may be a risk of fraud or abuse. I will get the Deputy the figures...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: -----was originally an insurance based payment. The replacement levy, which the previous Government introduced, was described by the Economic and Social Research Institute in the original papers as a universal social contribution. However, when the then Minister for Finance, Mr. Brian Lenihan, presented it in the budget the levy had morphed into a universal social charge, in other words, a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: No, the reason being that the scheme was designed for that purpose. It was extended to the self-employed purely for the contributory retirement pension and contributory survivor's pension and the 4% contribution covers only these pensions. The report on the social insurance fund shows that if an insurance company were managing such a scheme, a 4% contribution would probably only merit a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: The findings of the actuarial review are very important. It is an important social and national objective to sustain pensions into the long term. If, as members of all political parties and none agree, we are to achieve this objective, we must also ensure the fund is sustainable.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: We have discussed this issue previously and I wish to make clear that people would have to contribute if they wished to claim a wider range of benefits. To cover unemployment, the contribution of the self-employed would have to increase to 15.9%. In other words, self-employed people would have to pay the employee contribution of 4.25%, the employer contribution of 10.5% and a small...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: I will first respond to the Chairman's questions. She raised the question of rent supplement and the need for the tenant to seek advice on renegotiating the rent. We hope to make a major shift so that this service goes to local authorities, which after all have housing departments. The housing assistance payment, as the system is developed, should be able to address the issues that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: We do that now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: I am aware of that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: Yes, but those growth rates, unfortunately, turned out to be not very sustainable and, similarly, the numbers who were unemployed were far higher. That Government set many of those figures the previous September but it turned out the numbers on which they were predicated were optimistic, to use the kindest word, or extremely optimistic. I can understand why that may-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: I cannot understand, from the point of view of the Department of Finance, why that may have been so because that Government was obviously being optimistic about figures. It thought the bank guarantee would be an in and out job. The Deputy possibly had a much tighter take on it because I remember some of his contributions being very thoughtful. All I can say is that his Government was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: Can I say what I said to the Deputy's predecessor and to Deputy Ó Snodaigh last year? No decisions have been made in regard to the budget in December. When the decisions are made on the budget, they will be made by all the members of the Cabinet around the Cabinet table. I am not at liberty to say anything because I do not have the information as no budgetary decisions have been made....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: I will reply first to Deputies Willie O'Dea and Aengus Ó Snodaigh. On the issue of landlords and rent allowance, I share the concerns of Deputy Willie O'Dea. Everybody who represents constituencies where there is a great deal of rented accommodation available has experience of the same problems. As a result of this, when I entered the Department I changed the legislation in very...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: I did not catch that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Budget 2013: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: That is the figure for next year. We got it down to €485 million for this year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: I did not say that. It would be very rare for the EU, as the Deputy knows, to fund anything in its entirety. It would be a question of allocating resources when the EU budget is being decided. In this field much of the resource allocation is matched by member states and organisations which may draw down the funds. This has long been the practice in the EU. I am not aware of any proposals...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (26 Sep 2012)

Joan Burton: If it is helpful, I will be covering the social insurance fund in the discussion on the budget.