Results 2,541-2,560 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

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

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 130 together. The average length of time taken to deal with appeals by the social welfare appeals office in 2005 was 20 weeks. If allowance is made for the 25% most protracted cases, the average time falls to 13 weeks. The processing time for appeals covers all phases of the appeal process, including the submission by the Department's deciding officers'...

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

Séamus Brennan: My Department advises customers in receipt of social welfare payments who are approaching pension age to apply for a pension in good time. Approximately 30% of all pensioners are notified in this way. The most significant group in this category comprises those who are in receipt of invalidity pension. To further improve customer service to this particular category I have introduced a new...

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

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 100, 118 and 127 together. My Department provides child income support in a number of ways. The main support is provided through child benefit, a universal payment which is neutral vis-À-vis the employment status of the child's parents and does not contribute to poverty traps. Over the period since 1997, the monthly rates of child benefit have increased by...

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

Séamus Brennan: The living alone allowance is an additional payment of €7.70 per week made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone. It is also available to people under 66 years of age who are living alone and who receive payments under one of a number of invalidity type schemes. The allowance is intended as a contribution towards the...

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

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare scheme is administered by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive on my behalf. The establishment of the Health Service Executive prompted a fresh consideration of the role and structure of the community welfare service and of the most appropriate location for that service in the future. The Commission on Financial Management and Control Systems...

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

Séamus Brennan: All one-parent family payment, OPFP, applicants are requested to provide details of the other parent of their child/ren. This information includes the name, address and whether he/she is in employment or receiving payments from my Department or the Health Service Executive, HSE. The applicant is also requested to submit long version birth certificates for each child. In a significant number...

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

Séamus Brennan: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in a table that I propose to have circulated with the Official Report. The amount paid to each farmer depends on a number of factors, for example, family size, whether the spouse/partner is working and any means assessed from all sources. The farm assist scheme was introduced in the Social Welfare Act 1999. The scheme was designed specially...

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

Séamus Brennan: The information requested is currently being compiled within the Department and will be made available to the Deputy shortly.

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

Séamus Brennan: The programme for Government contains a commitment to a scheme of all-Ireland free travel for pensioners resident in all parts of the island of Ireland. The scheme would enable pensioners resident here to travel free of charge on all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland. Likewise, pensioners in Northern Ireland would travel free of charge on all bus, rail, air and ferry services in this...

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

Séamus Brennan: The underlying objective of my Department's information policy is to ensure that all citizens, including carers, are made aware of their entitlements under a broad range of social insurance, social assistance and other supports and are kept informed of changes and improvements as they occur. My Department provides a range of information leaflets and booklets for carers. These include, Carer's...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The National Action Plan against Poverty and Social Exclusion 2003-2005 set a key target for the combined level of child benefit and child dependent allowances to be within the range 33% to 35% of the minimum adult social welfare payment rate. The plan also made reference to the target of €150 per week in 2002 terms for the lowest rates of social welfare payments by 2007. Progress in...

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

Séamus Brennan: A person must satisfy the condition of being available for and genuinely seeking work to be entitled to unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance. Details of customers disallowed on unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance in the 12-month period to February 2006 are set out in a table that follows. Only those customers whose claim was disallowed for the specific reason of not...

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

Séamus Brennan: The provision of comprehensive information in a clear and simple manner is 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 other supports and are kept informed of changes and improvements to schemes as they occur. Information on the...

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

Séamus Brennan: Since 2000, a total of 2,555 PRSI exemption certificates have been granted in respect of the temporary employment of persons not ordinarily resident in this country. Of these 1,504 certificates were granted to the company in question. An annual breakdown of these certificates is included in the table. PRSI exemptions are issued in accordance with Article 97 of S.I. 312/1996. The legislation...

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

Séamus Brennan: The current approach to medical certification relies on registered medical certifiers, usually general practitioners or hospital interns, who are contracted to examine claimants and provide them with a medical certificate or a diagnostic report, as appropriate, for submission to the Department of Social and Family Affairs either to initiate a new claim or to keep an existing claim in payment....

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

Séamus Brennan: Since 1983 special arrangements for volunteer development workers have been provided for the award to them of credited social insurance contributions up to an aggregate of five years while they are outside the country on development activities. These credited contributions enable the persons concerned to qualify for short-term benefits on their return from their overseas development work and...

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

Séamus Brennan: The number of one-parent family recipients being paid by the Department of Social and Family Affairs at the end of December 2005 is 80,366, the latest date for which figures are available. Included in this figure are 906 widowed persons. It is not possible to get exact statistics on the number of one-parent family payment recipients who are in employment and receiving full or reduced...

Written Answers — Official Engagements: Official Engagements (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I represented the Government at a number of engagements, events and festivities in Boston to celebrate and mark St. Patrick's Day in the USA. My official party travelled to Boston on 14 March 2006 and returned on 18 March 2006. My itinerary included an address that focused on Ireland's knowledge economy to the Irish Association at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an address at a...

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (22 Mar 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I have appointed, on a contract basis for the term of my office, a press adviser, a special adviser, a personal secretary and a personal assistant. My press adviser is on a salary of €101,037 together with a private pension contribution of 11% of salary. My special adviser is currently on a salary of €88,556. The annual salary for my personal secretary is €39,532. My personal assistant...

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

Séamus Brennan: Given the ongoing improvements in life expectancy which are occurring and the challenges we face in the future as the proportion of older people in our population grows, it is important that we should encourage and facilitate people who wish to extend their working lives as this can make a significant contribution to the sustainability of our pensions system. In the budget I introduced, for...