Results 26,201-26,220 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: There were 90,267 recipients of One-parent Family Payments at the end of January 2012 with payments being made in respect of 149,196 qualified children. It is estimated that approximately 46% of the recipients are in paid employment. Information concerning the working patterns of recipients of One-Parent Family Payment is not collated by my Department. Therefore, it is not possible to...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: A financial review of Community Employment schemes has commenced following the announced changes in Budget 2012. All schemes have been communicated with and met by an officer of my Department. Returns from these meetings are now being examined on a regional basis in terms of the funding requirements and what savings can be achieved within the limits set down by the Department. These...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Self-employed persons are liable for PRSI at the Class S rate of 4% which entitles them to access long-term benefits such as State pension (contributory) and widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension (contributory). Ordinary employees who have access to the full range of social insurance benefits pay Class A PRSI at the rate of 4%. In addition, their employers make a PRSI...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: To qualify for a State pension (contributory), the person concerned must · have entered into insurable employment before age 56 · have at least 260 weeks full rate paid contributions (at least 520 contributions after 6 April 2012). · have a yearly average of at least 10 contributions recorded (taking paid and credited PRSI conditions into account) from 1953 or from the date of entry into...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The facilitator has contacted the person concerned and has arranged to meet him on 5 March 2012 to advise him of his entitlements and the education and training supports available.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Invalidity pension is a payment for people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy the contribution conditions. The person concerned was awarded an invalidity pension from 21 December 2006. Invalidity pension claims are reviewed periodically to ensure that recipients continue to satisfy the conditions for receipt. Payment of invalidity pension...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: There are a number of qualifying conditions for the back to education allowance scheme and it is not possible at this stage to determine if the person concerned will qualify for the 2012 scheme. She should submit an application when she has been accepted by the college for her chosen course of study and her application will be assessed in accordance with the guidelines for the 2012 scheme.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Information is not available on the number of applications received each month for rent supplement broken down by nationality. However, the following tabular statement details the number of rent supplement recipients in 2009, 2010, 2011 and to date in 2012. A subsequent table provides details of rent supplement recipients broken down between Irish and non-Irish nationality for the years...

Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. The new maximum rent limits were set after an analysis of the most up to date market data available. The emphasis of the rent limit review was to ensure that maximum value for money for tenants and the taxpayer was achieved while at the same time ensuring that people on rent supplement were not priced out of the market for good...

Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: I would be very grateful if the Deputy forwarded me details of the cases about which she is most concerned. The study carried out by the Department was carried out very much in conjunction with community welfare officers, who are now officers of the Department of Social Protection. The information used was check-marked against all the county information available on rates of rent and...

Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. Pathways to Work is a new approach to the provision of services to unemployed people, the objective of which is to reduce the level of long-term unemployment and, in so doing, to ensure the overall level of unemployment will reduce as the economy returns to growth. In developing the policy the Government is acutely aware that the level of...

Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The Department is currently evaluating the various models operating in other countries. I expect to be able to develop proposals following the evaluation. I am extremely conscious of what the Deputy has referenced, which is the negative experiences in some countries, as well as positive experiences. In this country, using the local employment services model, we have experience of taking in...

Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The Deputy's concerns are shared by everyone. This represents a major change for the Department, which took in an extra 1,000 employees from the Community Welfare Service, CWS, an extra 700 employees from the FÁS employment services and approximately 300 people who work in local employment service companies to provide one-to-one monitoring. We are also investing heavily in the roll-out of...

Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Absolutely.

Employment Support Services (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: The new system of drawing a profile or picture of new applicants has been tested. In the roll-out and testing to date, approximately 7,000 such profiles have been done. The model for the prediction of exit was developed in conjunction with the ESRI. In May, we will launch four offices that will be models for the new integrated service. Their locations will be King's Inns Street, Tallaght,...

Tax and Social Welfare Code (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: In the first instance, responsibility for the terms and conditions of employment for public sector workers, including retirement and pension issues, lies with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin. As the Deputy will be aware, the previous Government introduced a moratorium preventing the recruitment of staff in the public sector except in limited...

Tax and Social Welfare Code (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Deputy Fleming is proposing a form of sharing work, particularly among those who might wish to slow down as they get older. The public service already offers generous facilities in terms of jobsharing and family friendly hours. In the context of our current economic difficulties and the costs that would arise, we will need exit the troika programme before we can go further than that. We...

Tax and Social Welfare Code (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: I understand why the Deputy originally contacted the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation about the scheme. I am aware of job sharing arrangements in other countries but, from the point of view of my Department, we would have to be careful that pension contributions were not diminished. In light of our welcome longevity in life expectancy and the increasing proportion of older...

Community Employment Schemes (1 Mar 2012)

Joan Burton: Currently, 1,143 community employment schemes are in operation nationally, with 23,300 place, 22,000 participants and 1,300 full-time equivalent supervisor posts. The budgeted number of places for participants and supervisors in 2012 will be the same as in 2011. The overall estimated budget for community employment will be in excess of €315 million for 2012. Community employment schemes...

Written Answers — Rural Social Scheme: Rural Social Scheme (29 Feb 2012)

Joan Burton: An underlying aim of the RSS is to provide low-income farmers and fisherpersons with work-like opportunities, harness their skills and talents and apply these to the benefit of the local community. While the types of work that are undertaken are determined locally, it is a requirement of the RSS that the works are consistent with the terms and conditions of the scheme, that the placement...