Results 23,821-23,840 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Redundancy Rebates: Redundancy Rebates (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: A redundancy lump sum claim in respect of the person concerned has been awarded and payment is due to issue in the coming weeks.

Written Answers — Rent Supplement Scheme: Rent Supplement Scheme (17 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 — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy will be aware there is currently a moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service. As an exception to the moratorium, the Department has been given a limited sanction, subject at all times to Employment Control Framework targets set by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, to fill critical vacancies by way of promotion in instances where all efforts to...

Written Answers — Jobseeker's Allowance: Jobseeker's Allowance (17 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 — Carer's Allowance: Carer's Allowance (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department is in receipt of an application for carer's allowance from the person in question. On completion of the necessary investigations relating to all aspects of the case a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (17 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 15 March 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 11 May and...

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. 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. Similarly, means-tested payments can also require...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: This Government is committed to tackling Ireland's economic crisis in a way that is fair, balanced, and which recognises the need for social solidarity. The appropriate level of overall expenditure by my Department will be considered by the Government in the context of Budget 2013 and subsequent Budgets. This consideration will be informed by the commitment in the Programme for Government to...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The appropriate level of overall expenditure by my Department in 2012 was considered in the context of Budget 2012 and having regard to the various expenditure reductions introduced by the previous Government since 2009. In the last Budget, I prioritised the maintenance of primary weekly rates of social welfare in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government. As a result, these...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: In order to qualify for a State pension (contributory), a claimant must have entered insurable employment before attaining the age of 56 years, have a minimum number of (full-rate) paid PRSI contributions, and satisfy a yearly-average contributions test. The person concerned was aged 66 years on 1st October 1994. An application for State pension (contributory) was received from her on 14th ...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The application for State pension (contributory) has been reviewed. The person concerned does not satisfy the qualifying conditions for State pension (contributory) which applied on the date that the person concerned reached pension age (66): · have entered insurable employment before attaining the age of 56 years. · have at least 156 paid contribution weeks since entry into insurance,...

Written Answers — Rent Supplement Scheme: Rent Supplement Scheme (17 Jul 2012)

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

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

Joan Burton: Department of Social Protection Staff have met with insurance providers to agree reduced rates for CE schemes. The Department is also benchmarking audit fees for CE schemes to ensure value for money. Significant savings in insurance costs and audit fees have already been achieved on CE projects. It is anticipated that the overall potential savings in respect of insurance, audit fees and bank...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 377 and 378 together. The three statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are the Social Welfare Tribunal, the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board. In addition, the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department but it does not have a Board. Social Welfare Tribunal The Social Welfare Tribunal...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: Eight retired former public servants were recruited on short term contracts in the Department from June 2010. These officers were employed on a part time basis as Appeals Officers and their contracts terminated at the end of December 2011. One of the Department's Medical Assessors was retained beyond the normal retirement age on a temporary contract which ended in January 2012. The acting...

Disability Support Service (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I am committed to supporting people with a disability to participate more fully in society and enabling people to become more self-sufficient. To do this it is necessary to provide supports which address barriers that people may face when entering and remaining in the workforce. Earlier in the year I announced several initiatives in this area. First, a scheme of partial capacity benefit,...

Disability Support Service (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: As I stated, I have introduced a series of new options for persons with a disability. The partial capacity benefit had been spoken of as a desirable development for many years but I am happy to say that since becoming Minister, I have gone ahead and introduced it. That is an innovation which, over time, will bear fruit. Second, in the discussions on JobBridge, a number of Deputies and...

Homeless Persons (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 27 together. 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 to certain categories of claimant, including those who were in the care of the HSE during the 12 months before they reached the age of 18....

Homeless Persons (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: My objective as a Minister is to ensure as far as possible that no young people in society go onto social welfare and that we provide a pathway for young people who may not be able to find work to continue to expand their education and training and to take up training positions and places from among the various options and opportunities we have laid out. I cannot stress enough how important...

Homeless Persons (17 Jul 2012)

Joan Burton: The most important thing for young people is to give them a future.