Results 2,481-2,500 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Social Welfare Code. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: In order to qualify for the carer's allowance, one must be habitually resident in the State. I presume the same applies to a person with a disability. There is no point discussing an individual case as I do not know the full circumstances.

Social Welfare Code. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Different applications apply, but the Deputy referred to a particular case. Every individual case is assessed. One example concerned four people who applied for social welfare but did not qualify on the basis that they were not habitually resident in the State. That is the type of control measure we need.

Social Welfare Code. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Jobseeker's allowance is a means tested payment and the manner in which means are to be assessed is set out in the third Schedule of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. In most such cases, a social welfare inspector will interview the claimant to ascertain the means of the applicant. The Department of Social and Family Affairs also produces administrative guidelines to assist...

Social Welfare Code. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: If inspectors on the ground need me to issue further clarity and guidelines, I am more than happy to do that. At the beginning of the year I indicated that we would do it and two circulars were issued to inspectors in May, one concerning people who were unemployed due to the down turn in the construction industry and the other concerning self-employment and jobseeker's payments. I accept...

Social Welfare Code. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department's website has won a number of awards for its quality and the fact that it is so user-friendly. To my knowledge, there is a checklist on it. The website www.losingyourjob.ie which, unfortunately, has had a huge number of hits is also very practical and tells people exactly what they need. I will check to make sure the type of information to which the Deputy refers is also...

Social Welfare Code. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I am not sure how many people are being turned down on the basis that the information is not in on time or the period is closed.

Social Welfare Code. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: We will certainly try to take a sample of cases to see where the problems are because I am particularly conscious that this group of people have paid a stamp that does not automatically entitle them to a number of benefits but are experiencing difficulties. We will take a look at that to see if we can help people.

Social Welfare Benefits. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Promoting social inclusion, protecting the most vulnerable and recognising the contribution that older people have made to this country have always been major priorities for this Government. When we could, we provided unprecedented increases in welfare payments and ensured, for example, that the value of the State contributory pension more than doubled over the past ten years from just...

Social Welfare Benefits. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: If a choice had been available to continue to pay the Christmas bonus, we would of course have done so. It was undoubtedly one of the most difficult decisions that the Government had to make in the earlier part of this year. I accept that not everybody on social welfare has a mortgage or engages in foreign travel, but it is also fair to say that in more recent months other elements of the...

Social Welfare Benefits. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The increases given in January were of the order of 3.3% to 3.8%. Although I accept the loss of the bonus is a 2% drop, even if there had not been a change in inflation there would have been an increase over the year. It is a difficult time of year for pensioners who like to give to others despite needing to look after themselves and for families who need to buy for their children. To...

Social Welfare Benefits. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Nothing has happened in this year which they say will have an impact on that. It has been acknowledged and the statistics show it. We are trying not to row back on advances which have been made. Deputy Naughten mentioned the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. All those payments made in September were on time where people applied on time.

Social Welfare Benefits. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: One part of the country had a particular difficulty but for the rest of the country there was a significant increase in the number of people who applied for it. It is a substantial payment and we correctly increased the amount of money that people could get for uniforms and other clothes.

Social Welfare Benefits. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The rates of all the social welfare payments were increased by anything up to €7 last January. The amount of the fuel allowance was increased along with the number of weeks that people avail of it, yet the price of fuel has fallen since. The amount of money given for the back-to-school allowance has also been increased and the number of people who can qualify for various payments was also...

Child Poverty. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The programme for Government that was agreed in 2007 contained a commitment to amalgamate qualified child allowances and family income supplements to develop a second tier of income support targeted at the poorest families. The possibility of such a reform had been mentioned in other documents, including social partnership agreements. It was argued that such a payment would target child...

Child Poverty. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The proposal has certainly not been abandoned. As its cost was estimated to be €775 million, it is obviously not possible to develop it at this stage. It is important that any change we might make would not preclude us from going in this direction in the future. This country's levels of child poverty have decreased significantly in recent times. A paper that was produced by Barnardos...

Child Poverty. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I will provide the real and accurate data in this regard to the Deputy. As the study to which I referred is from 2008, it is up to date. I will get the most relevant figures on child poverty for the Deputy.

Child Poverty. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Factors such as the number of children in one's family, or whether one's spouse is in work, are taken into account when payments are made to people who have lost their jobs. The role of child benefit has to be acknowledged too. The Deputy suggested that people are unable to pay their rents, but the rent supplement scheme, which we discussed earlier, is in place to assist such people.

Child Poverty. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Rents are varied by local authorities according to the income coming into people's houses.

Child Poverty. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: They reduce rents when people find themselves on social welfare. We are all familiar with how the system works. I know it is not easy for people who are trying to survive on social welfare, particularly those who suddenly find themselves in difficulties because their outgoings are commensurate with the good incomes they used to enjoy but no longer have. We have always had a commitment to...

Child Poverty. (11 Nov 2009)

Mary Hanafin: We will aim to continue to do that, bearing in mind the difficult economic conditions we face.