Results 24,481-24,500 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Social Welfare Appeals (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The number of appeals received in the social welfare appeals office from 2008 until the end of March 2012 and the average waiting times in each of these years is set out in the following table. As can be seen from these figures, there has been a very significant increase in the number of social welfare appeals year on year from 2008 to 2011, with the number of appeals received in 2011 being...

Social Welfare Appeals (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: If I may restate the numbers, 15,000 appeals were dealt with in 2008 but by last year that figure had increased to 34,000. I accept it is difficult for the people who are applying but the reality is that since the country began to face its economic difficulties and meltdown in 2008, demand for a range of social service and social welfare schemes has exploded. The appeals process, in...

Social Welfare Appeals (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: We are doing what the Deputy suggests by significantly expanding the use of technology in social welfare appeals. Longer serving Deputies will recall that the processing time for pensions had risen enormously a couple of years ago simply due to demographic change and the increase in the numbers applying for benefits. New business processes were introduced and the system is now working very...

Jobseeker's Benefit (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The total of 432,907 recipients of jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit, at an estimated 2012 cost of €3.57 billion, currently includes some 80,000 casual workers. It is recognised that a changing labour market has resulted in a move away from the more traditional work patterns, with a consequent increase in the number of atypical workers. In fact many large employers have a lot...

Jobseeker's Benefit (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: No decision has been made in this area. The current system is unwieldy and I agree that it must be reformed. This will involve a package of structures that recognise labour market patterns and required flexibility but also protect the integrity of the jobseeker's scheme, provide incentives to employment and deliver value for money. Reform in this area is technically and administratively...

Jobseeker's Benefit (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I do not have a date for when I will come back on this matter. We have an enormously ambitious programme of reform under way in the Department. This includes the absorption of 1,000 community welfare officers and 700 former FÁS employees, as well as the business method changes referred to in earlier answers. I will not commit to a date for this change. It is an important area for trying...

Community Employment Schemes (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 110 together. The budget for expenditure on community employment, CE, schemes in 2012 is €315 million in respect of 23,300 places, including approximately 1,400 supervisors. Responsibility for community employment schemes transferred to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1 January 2012. Since this transfer Department of Social...

Community Employment Schemes (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: With regard to the final point on training, when the scheme was transferred to the Department the allocation for training from the national training fund was €4.2 million, which was approximately €190 per participant per scheme, and this funding is included in the budget allocation I mentioned earlier. To be clear, the terms of the review were to examine the income and funding of...

Community Employment Schemes (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: Late last week I received drafts of the report, which I have been reviewing in great detail. I wish to clarify a matter on specialist areas of CE. Some 1,000 places are ring-fenced for rehabilitation purposes; 2,200 places are ring-fenced for child care provision; and 2,800 places are marked off for health and social-care provision. They are commitments in those very important areas. The...

Carer's Allowance (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers. The average time taken to award a carer's allowance application is 28 weeks at present. This is not a satisfactory position. A major service delivery modernisation project is under way to improve the efficiency of administration of the carer's allowance scheme. This involves the deployment of information...

Carer's Allowance (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: For the information of the Deputy, the Department of Social Protection has done this successfully in respect of other schemes, such as pensions. Deputies might recall that a couple of years ago quite a delay period built up with pension applications. New processes were put in place and now, provided people apply a little in advance of the birthday when they become eligible for the pension,...

Carer's Allowance (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: The timescale for having the data in place for the new system is the middle of June and this is broadly on time at present. The Deputy should recall the Department also is introducing the system for invalidity pensions and disability allowance. This is quite an ambitious target of schemes that are migrating to the new system and I hope to have made significant progress in respect of carers...

Rent Supplement Scheme (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113 and 112 together. There are currently approximately 93,800 persons in receipt of rent supplement, for which the Government has provided €436 million for 2012. New maximum rent limits were introduced from 1 January 2012, following analysis of the most up-to-date market data available. The emphasis of the rent limit review was to ensure that maximum...

Rent Supplement Scheme (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: As stated in the programme for Government, in the Government's commitments and as I have stated in the House, the aim and objective is to transfer rent supplement to the local authorities which are expert on housing and have housing departments. The difficulty in regard to community welfare officers or the community welfare service, as it is now known in the Department, is that the community...

Rent Supplement Scheme (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I understand discussions are ongoing between NAMA and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government on the question of procuring appropriate property which may be available to NAMA and would be suitable for social housing. The difficulty is that in many cases the available property is not in a place like Leopardstown, where Deputy Ó Snodaigh's constituent wanted to stay....

Rent Supplement Scheme (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: That is being worked on at the moment. It is really a matter for the local authorities. The Department of Social Protection makes rent supplement payments and allows tenants to source properties. We are not directly engaged in the property market. That is why I reminded Deputy Fleming of our clear policy preference, which is for the rent supplement scheme ultimately to be transferred to...

Social Welfare Benefits (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 144 together. The single working age assistance payment or single payment is a proposal to create a single social welfare payment that would cover all people of working age including those who would be currently classified as unemployed, with a disability or parenting alone. The Department of Social Protection has been considering the option of a...

Social Welfare Benefits (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I should add that carer's allowance is not included in the concept of the single working age payment.

Social Welfare Benefits (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: I recommended to the Government that carers would not be included in this group, because somebody who is caring full-time is not available for work. The key concept is to make provision for the expectation that most people would be in a position and be anxious to participate in some appropriate way in the labour force. Therefore, since becoming Minister I have introduced a number of...

Social Welfare Benefits (12 Jun 2012)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy knows well, I cannot make any commitment in advance of the budget being framed for next year. I am being honest with the Deputy on that. I do not know if the Deputy is asking me to make budgetary commitments for next year, but I am not in a position to do that. However, following my examination I have proposed to the Government that carers are not appropriate to be included...