Results 25,381-25,400 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton
- Child Care Services (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: Our model has developed over a long period of time. Until recently, lone parent status, specifically in regard to parenting, did not end until children reached the age of 18 or 22. The countries the Deputy referenced have good systems.
- Child Care Services (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: The Deputy referenced them as well and indicated that she thinks some elements of their systems are progressive. The situation in those countries is that a parent parenting on their own as well as being assisted with income support, as in our case, is also assisted to get back into education and training and, ultimately, into work because all the indications are that the best route to...
- Child Care Services (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: My Department and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs are examining current levels of provision. For instance, the national child care investment programme, NCIP, supports approximately 15,800 after-school places and there are more than 37,000 childminding places. There is a total of 75,000 places in all, given the variety of ways in which after-school care, for example, can be...
- Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: The Department's control savings target for 2012 is â¬645 million with an associated target of reviewing 985,000 individual welfare claims. Control savings are a valuable performance indicator for the Department of year-on-year control activities and this year's targets will be kept under review during the coming months. It is important to point out that control savings are not actual...
- Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: I can cite an example of some of the targeted examinations conducted by social welfare inspectors. Last June, 320 clients were visited, of whom 99 were called for further interview. A total of 43 clients had their payments suspended - 18 for not attending their interviews, 16 for no longer being at the addresses stated and nine for non-compliance with requests to supply information, for...
- Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: Is the Deputy saying in a roundabout way that he does not believe there is any fraud in the system?
- Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: The vast majority of people who claim social welfare entitlements are absolutely honest but, to return to the example of the special projects I outlined to Deputy Fleming, if Revenue and social welfare inspectors visited a building site on which somebody from the North of Ireland is working it would not be possible without massive surveillance to determine how long he or she has been there....
- Social Welfare Fraud (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: We also co-operate with NERA on many of these inter-agency issues. However, we do not have a way of proving that an individual was working at a site for longer than he or she suggests. The saving on the control side comes from preventing that person from claiming in the future because he or she has on examination been discovered to have made an improper claim. There is no capacity in that...
- Social Welfare Code (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 15, 18, 28 and 32 together. The Department of Social Protection has been exploring the option of a single payment for some time and published the report on the desirability and feasibility of introducing a single assistance payment for people of working age in November 2010. The single working age assistance payment or single payment is a proposal to...
- Social Welfare Code (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: The Government has decided that recipients of the carer's allowance will be excluded from the single payment given that they are providing full-time care. Recipients of the half-time carer's allowance are generally either in receipt of another payment or are in part-time employment. The decision will depend on their situation but the decision includes carers generally. The carer's allowance...
- Social Welfare Code (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: That is a matter I am prepared to consider but we have until now confined our deliberations to the principle of the single payment and the significant role of carers.
- Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: I am advised by the social welfare appeals office that, based on figures for the first quarter of 2012, the average waiting time for appeals dealt with by summary decisions was 22.4 weeks, and 40.9 weeks for those that required an oral hearing. The comparable times for 2011 were 25 weeks and 52.5 weeks, respectively. In this regard I have already circulated to all Deputies a report on the...
- Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: In 2008 there were 15,700 appeals and in 2011 there were 34,000, indicating that the volume of appeals has more than doubled. For the first time since 2008, in 2011 - particularly in the latter part - we have begun to make serious improvements in the processing times, particularly on new applications. IT improvements are being made and much of that work will be completed by June. Because...
- Social Welfare Appeals (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: I would be very concerned about the domiciliary care allowance because I know it is so important to parents. We have already introduced new arrangements. For instance when a case is due for review, the parents now get three months' notice that the review is to take place. They will then get a further two months to make submissions through their medical advisers or other advisers. From now...
- Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: No changes have been implemented in recent years to the underlying eligibility conditions for disability allowance. The budget 2012 proposals relating to disability allowance have been referred to the independent advisory group on tax and social welfare, under the chairmanship of the barrister, Ms Ita Mangan. I expect the review will be completed by September 2012. Disability allowance is a...
- Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: As I said to the Deputy earlier, the number of applications has continued to rise, particularly over the past six or seven years. Obviously the major increase in the volume of applications has put the system under pressure. The people who carry out assessments are medical assessors, who are qualified medical personnel, generally with training and experience in occupational medicine. It is...
- Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: The purpose of the change was as follows. Under the current system, eligible 16 year olds begin to receive disability payments in their own right. I know the Deputy supports that, but my view is that between the ages of 16 and 18 the child is still dependent and therefore the payment should be made to the parents. I know the Deputy disagrees with me on this. Many parents who have a child...
- Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: I do not seem to have the response yet. Is it possible to proceed? I understood the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Lynch, was to take this matter.
- Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: I will take it, because we are returning to the Bill after a short while.
- Social Welfare Benefits (25 Apr 2012)
Joan Burton: The Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, is here now.