Results 24,161-24,180 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Carer's Allowance: Carer's Allowance (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 267 and 268 together. Currently the average time taken to award a carer's allowance application is 28 weeks. There are currently approximately 8,640 new carer's allowance applications registered and awaiting a decision. Of these, there are 9 cases that have been awaiting a decision for more than 40 weeks. Certain cases take longer to decide for various...

Written Answers — Carer's Allowance: Carer's Allowance (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. Currently the average time taken to award a carer's allowance application is 28 weeks. There are approximately 8,650 new carer's allowance applications registered and awaiting a decision. I acknowledge that the time taken to process carer's allowance claims at present is not satisfactory but I am satisfied...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (26 Jun 2012)

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

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The person concerned commenced an internship on 16th January 2012 and is scheduled to finish on 12th October 2012. In order to be eligible to participate on Community Employment (CE), the person concerned needs to be currently in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker's Benefit for 12 months or more. However, the Deputy should note that time spent on an internship does not count...

Written Answers — Carer's Allowance: Carer's Allowance (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. Currently the average time taken to award a carer's allowance application is 28 weeks. There are currently approximately 8,640 new carer's allowance applications registered and awaiting a decision. Of these, approximately 1,450 cases have been awaiting a decision for more than 30 weeks. I acknowledge that...

Written Answers — Re-employment Rate: Re-employment Rate (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: In 2011 a total of 540,560 jobseeker's allowance, jobseeker's benefit or jobseeker's credit claims were closed for a variety of reasons. 30% of these or 160,256 claims were closed indicating the closure reason as returning to employment. However these data are not necessarily comprehensive as people may not say the reason they are leaving the live register. I attach for your information a...

Written Answers — Rent Supplement Scheme: Rent Supplement Scheme (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The person concerned has made an application for rent supplement to the Department and was requested on 20th June 2012 to provide further information in order to process her claim. A decision will be made on her application when the information has been provided.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: Further to my response to Parliamentary Question Ref. No. 23640/12 on 15th May 2012, I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there is no update to the information given previously. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare...

Written Answers — Household Relocation: Household Relocation (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The Government has provided various types of support to people affected by the November 2009 flooding. Humanitarian aid payments were made, both in the immediate aftermath of the flooding and subsequently to enable eligible households to resume living at their home. Flood relief works were also undertaken in some of the affected areas and other works are at an advanced state of preparation....

Written Answers — Job Initiatives: Job Initiatives (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 278 and 279 together. The National Internship Scheme (JobBridge) was launched on 1st July 2011 and is open to organisations in the private, public and community or voluntary sectors. It provides internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months for unemployed individuals at all skills levels. The aim of JobBridge is to assist individuals in breaking the cycle...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: Tús is a community work placement initiative which aims to provide up to 5,000 short-term work opportunities for those who have been fully unemployed and in receipt of a jobseeker's payment for at least 12 months, and who are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance at the time of application. Currently, under the initiative, there are 4,271 participants and 230 supervisors engaged in the...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 282, 295 and 305 together. My Department has not provided staff to the redeployment panel managed by the Public Appointments Service to date. As this Department is currently under its Employment Control Framework (ECF) figure, as determined by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, it is, in fact, sourcing staff from the Redeployment Panel to...

Written Answers — Free Travel Scheme: Free Travel Scheme (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: There are currently 737,249 customers in receipt of free travel passes. The free travel scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by over 90 private operators in various parts of the country. The breakdown by age as requested is as follows: Breakdown by Age No. of Free Travel Passholders Under 65 192,347 Over 65 544,902 Total...

Written Answers — Child Benefit: Child Benefit (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: There are currently 4,913 customers in receipt of Child Benefit in respect of a total of 7,744 children who are resident elsewhere in the EU. The total cost of payments to this category in 2011 was €13m. The cost of payments to this category in 2012 to date is €6.5m.

Written Answers — Rent Supplement Scheme: Rent Supplement Scheme (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: There are currently 2,638 people in receipt of rent supplement in County Louth. The number in receipt of the supplement at end December 2011 was 2,734.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The question of introducing a scheme of statutory sick pay, whereby employers would directly meet the costs of sick absence for an initial period of illness is being considered in the context of the need to reform the social welfare system to bring it into line with practices in other countries in this area; the need to address the deficit in the social insurance fund; the need to limit...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The financial review of Community Employment (CE) Schemes is very near to completion. Given the volume and breath of the data being returned, the review has taken longer than originally envisaged to complete. However, this has allowed more time for schemes to engage with local officials in the finalisation of their respective budgets and for my Department to bring forward improvements to the...

Written Answers — Carer's Allowance: Carer's Allowance (26 Jun 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 — Jobseeker's Allowance: Jobseeker's Allowance (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all the evidence, disallowed the appeal, of the person concerned, by way of summary decision. Under Social Welfare legislation, the decision of the Appeals Officer is final and conclusive and may only be reviewed by the Appeals Officer in the light of new evidence or new facts. Following the...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (26 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The financial review of Community Employment (CE) Schemes is being finalised at present. As you will appreciate, the review is of interest and importance to the many stakeholders involved and I will ensure that they will be able to contribute and respond to the findings. My Department is committed to supporting the CE Programme and the valuable contribution it makes to the provision of...