Results 2,521-2,540 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 65, 186 and 187 together. My Department does not create or hold records or statistics on health matters per se. Information relating to occupational diseases regarding miners is only held by my Department in the context of claims made under its occupational injuries benefits scheme. Departmental records reflect that there are 21 persons currently in receipt of...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department does not have definite figures on the number of bogus PPS numbers as identity fraud is by its nature difficult to quantify. The Department, however, has not uncovered a significant level of fraud involving the use of bogus PPS numbers. Since 2004, an identity check on scheme clients has been part of the fraud and error surveys undertaken for control purposes by my Department and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I regard the provision of information in a clear and accessible manner as an essential element in the effective delivery of social welfare services. The underlying objective of my Department's information policy is to ensure that all citizens are made aware of their entitlements and that they are kept informed of changes and improvements in schemes and services as they occur. My Department...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68, 75, 86, 97, 112 and 181 together. The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under age 66...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: It is my Department's policy to maximise the recovery of moneys overpaid in order to have due regard to the interests of taxpayers and social insurance contributors who finance social welfare payments. My Department may, however, decide to seek repayment of a reduced amount or not to seek any repayment in cases where the overpayment resulted from an error by an official of the Department and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The requirement to be habitually resident in Ireland was introduced as a qualifying condition for certain social assistance schemes and child benefit with effect from 1 May 2004. It was introduced in the context of the Government's decision to open the Irish labour market to workers from the new EU member states without the transitional limitations which were being imposed at that time by...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 71, 94 and 116 together. The Government acknowledges that the risk of poverty, especially child poverty, tends to be higher among one-parent families, larger families and those faced by long-term unemployment, due mainly to the direct costs of rearing children, including child care costs, and the opportunity costs related to the reduced earning capacity of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 77 together. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income support, in the form of a weekly or monthly payment, to eligible people living in private rented accommodation...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 125 together. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, a weekly or monthly rent supplement is available to assist eligible people who are unable to meet their immediate accommodation needs through their own resources. In recent years, a significant...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The Government is anxious to ensure that as many people as possible can qualify for contributory pensions in their own right and, in this regard, a number of measures have been introduced over the years which makes it easier for people to qualify for pensions. These include the reduction in the yearly average number of contributions required for pension purposes from 20 to ten and the special...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 185 together. Missionaries who have made sufficient social insurance contributions can qualify for an old age contributory pension. Contributory pensions are payable abroad, so missionaries who qualify and who chose to settle overseas can receive a payment. Non-contributory pensions are only payable where a person is resident in this country....

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The farm assist scheme, which introduced special arrangements for farmers on low incomes, was provided for in the Social Welfare Act 1999 and came into operation with effect from 7 April 1999. There are now 7,750 farm assist customers. The current average weekly payment is €181.81. The level of uptake is less than had been anticipated when the scheme was first introduced in April 1999. This...

Written Answers — Departmental Investigations: Departmental Investigations (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Arising from reports in the media, my Department carried out an examination of accesses to the computer record of the person concerned. On a general basis, staff of my Department are authorised to access individual records as long as it is for legitimate business reasons. In view of the number of accesses in this case, managers were asked to examine the matter to establish if there were...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81, 85, 93 and 114 together. The construction federation operatives pensions scheme operates as a registered employment agreement under the Industrial Relations Acts. There is a statutory obligation on employers to register eligible employees in the scheme and to pay the necessary contributions. Compliance with the terms of the scheme is enforced through the...

Written Answers — Computerisation Programme: Computerisation Programme (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department is highly dependent on computer systems to deliver its schemes and, in particular, its payment services. Each week, for example, my Department is responsible for some 970,000 payments that, when dependants are included, directly benefit some 1.5 million men, women and children. Each year almost 60 million transactions are processed and issued by my Department. The majority of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Under the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pension Bill 2006, I propose to change the name of the old age contributory pension to State pension, contributory, and the retirement pension to State pension, transition. Also, from 29 September next, I will introduce a new pension scheme to be known as State pension, non-contributory, which will incorporate most means tested payments which apply to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 87, 106 and 120 together. The provision of information is an essential element in the effective delivery of social welfare schemes and services. The underlying objective of my Department's information policy is to ensure that all citizens are made aware of their entitlements and other supports and are kept informed of changes and improvements to schemes and...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88, 92, 95, 99, 108 and 129 together. The latest results from the CSO quarterly national household survey, QNHS, show a 0.9% decline in supplementary pensions coverage from 52.4% of the working population aged 20-69 in quarter 1 of 2004 to 51.5% in the same quarter in 2005. The decline is within the margin of error for the survey so the position appears to be...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I was pleased to be asked to make the closing address to the recent ACCORD conference in Ballyconnell, County Cavan. In my address to the conference, I referred to the fact that ACCORD is now working in a very different environment than was the case back in the early 1960s when it was founded. Today, there are many differing views and attitudes to marriage and cohabitation while births...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 96 together. Responsibility for the disabled person's maintenance allowance, DPMA, scheme was transferred from the Department of Health and Children and the health boards to my Department in October 1996. On transfer of the scheme, the existing qualifying conditions were retained and the scheme was re-named disability allowance. One of the qualifying...