Results 23,701-23,720 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Rent Supplement Scheme: Rent Supplement Scheme (18 Jul 2012)

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 — Community Employment Drug Rehabilitation Projects: Community Employment Drug Rehabilitation Projects (18 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: Management of the Community Employment project in question have been in discussion with the Department, and officials met with them on 30th May 2012 to discuss the level of funding being approved. At the meeting, further clarification was sought from the project regarding the exact amount of funding required, and this information has since been received by the Department. Since then, the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (18 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The €100 rate of jobseeker's allowance was introduced for claimants aged under 20 in April 2009, and this rate was applied to claimants aged up to 21 from December 2009. The €100 rate does not apply certain categories of claimant including: · claimants with a qualified child; · those transferring to Jobseeker's Allowance immediately after exhausting their entitlement to Jobseeker's...

Written Answers — Ministerial Advisers: Ministerial Advisers (18 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 181 and 183 together. Since my appointment as Minister for Social Protection I have appointed one special advisor, Mr. Edward Brophy, and one press advisor, Ms. Kathleen Barrington. Details of the advisors appointed by my predecessors in the past five years are shown in the following table. Minister Period in office Special Advisor Press Advisor Martin...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (18 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 28th April 2012. 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 8th ...

Written Answers — Unemployment Levels: Unemployment Levels (18 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: My Department is establishing a new National Employment and Entitlements Service, as provided for in the Programme for Government, which will integrate employment and benefit payment services within the Department. This is a key element of the Government's Pathways to Work Strategy. I would like to stress that the Pathways to Work policy is not a policy working in isolation from other...

Written Answers — Rent Supplement Scheme: Rent Supplement Scheme (18 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: There are approximately 92,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided a sum of €436 million for 2012. New maximum rent limits were introduced, from January 1 2012, following analysis of the most up-to-date market data available. The emphasis of the rent limit review was to ensure that maximum value for money for tenants and the taxpayer was achieved...

Written Answers — Social Insurance Fund: Social Insurance Fund (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 59 together. The Social Insurance Fund (SIF) is a pay-as-you-go social insurance scheme that is financed by contributions from employees, employers, the self-employed and by a contribution or 'subvention' from the Exchequer when the cost of the benefits paid from the Fund exceeds the contribution income. The Exchequer is the residual financier of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: Carer's allowance is a means-tested payment for carers who look after people in need of full-time care and attention. In 2011, approximately 50,000 carers were in receipt of carer's allowance at a cost of over €504 million. The maximum weekly rate is €204 for those under 66 with increases for qualified children. In addition, carers receive an annual respite care grant of €1,700 in...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The number of places available on CE has remained constant at 23,300 including supervisors. The estimated cost of CE programmes in 2012 is €340 million. The financial review of CE Schemes has now been completed. The Department has contacted schemes to advise them of their revised material and training allocations. The materials and training CE Budget has been increased by €9.5million...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 42 together. Decisions on statutory social welfare schemes are made by statutorily appointed deciding officers/designated persons. They determine entitlement to social insurance and social assistance payments and liability for Pay Related Social Insurance contributions in accordance with the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 (as amended) and...

Written Answers — Legislative Programme: Legislative Programme (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: A Government decision was made recently to approve the drafting of Heads of a Bill to amend and add to the existing provisions contained in the Civil Registration Act 2004. The drafting of the Heads of a Bill will commence shortly. Many of the matters to be addressed in the Bill are complex and will require considerable consultation with other Government Departments and Offices. Following...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible. Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing qualification criteria. As can be seen from the data in the table below, schemes that require a high level of documentary evidence from the customer, particularly in the case of illness-related schemes, can take longer to process....

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I hope to have this seminar around October. Representatives of all the interested parties in employment schemes will be invited, including sponsors of the schemes, social partners, the community and voluntary sector and labour market policy-makers.

Written Answers — Maternity Benefit: Maternity Benefit (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: Maternity benefit is an income maintenance payment awarded by this Department 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. Under the provisions of social welfare legislation, the 26-week period of core statutory maternity leave attracts a payment from this Department –...

Written Answers — Domiciliary Care Allowance: Domiciliary Care Allowance (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The review of the domiciliary care allowance scheme commenced last week. The group undertaking the review comprises representatives from a number of Government Departments, the National Disability Authority and other persons with relevant experience. The terms of reference for the review allows for a consultation process with parents and representative groups to be held. The group is due to...

Written Answers — Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare: Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 37 together. Creating jobs and tackling poverty are two of the key challenges that Ireland now faces. It is essential that our tax and social protection systems play their part in addressing these challenges. To this end, I established an Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare last year, with the aim of harnessing expert opinion and experience to...

Written Answers — Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme: Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: Officials from the Department of Social Protection have not engaged in discussions with the Department of Education and Skills with regard to reducing the cost of school uniforms as this is primarily a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills. The Department of Education and Skills has encouraged schools to consider, where possible, the use of generic uniforms or any...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: Following the completion of the financial review of Community Employment, €5.5m of the 2012 CE Budget has been ring-fenced for training. This equates to a training grant of approximately €250 per place annually. Flexibility can be applied to exceed the rate of €250 per place once the overall budget for the region is not exceeded and where added value to the progression of the...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The review is at an advanced draft stage and I expect it to be submitted to me for consideration during the Summer. It is my intention to engage in consultation with stakeholders before deciding on my response to the report. Any proposed significant changes to the operation of programmes will be a matter for Government. The report will be published when this process is complete, which I...