Results 2,681-2,700 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Social Welfare Code. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I would not necessarily state that people are far better off if they are not married and are living alone.

Social Welfare Code. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I agree with the Deputy's principal point regarding the cohabitation rule. The latter was based, clearly and historically, on a purely financial consideration that took no account of the welfare of all involved in what would constitute a family unit. A child who is involved with both parents — regardless of whether they are married or single — enjoys a better upbringing and will have a...

Social Welfare Code. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: Many people in the agencies involved in trying to resolve difficulties in this area want to ensure that the other services will buy into this change and that it will not all take the form of a simple payment.

Social Welfare Code. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: That is what we must achieve.

Social Welfare Code. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: If it was merely a matter of changing the cohabitation rule, we could do it tomorrow morning. However, it is not possible to proceed in that way because there are huge knock-on effects, involving many other aspects of the social welfare system, which must be taken into consideration. I want to get agreement between the various parties to the different perspectives, particularly those who...

Residency Permits. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I have already described in my answer to Deputy Enright's question the reasons for the introduction of the habitual residence condition and the effect of the condition, so I will confine this answer to the EU aspect of Deputy Durkan's question. The habitual residence condition does not introduce any distinctions based on citizenship, nationality or any other factor, and it applies equally to...

Child Support. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: The child benefit office is responsible for the administration of the child benefit scheme and the early child care supplement scheme which my Department administers for the Office of the Minister for Children. There are over 570,000 customers, and 1.1 million children are currently receiving payments totalling over €2.6 billion in 2007. The child benefit office operates a phone service...

Child Support. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I would not seek to justify what happened to the Deputy or to anyone else. It is utterly unacceptable and I have made that clear in the Department. We have tried to put extra staff in there to cope with the volumes on certain days. It appears that on the particular day the Deputy called, there were technical problems with the phone system which compounded the problem. I hope that if the...

Child Support. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I have experienced the same frustration myself, but it does not just apply to the public sector. It also applies to many of the private companies providing services in this country. I have given up trying to get through to some major companies in this country just to do my own personal business. It drives me absolutely nuts to be told to press one button or another by an answering machine....

Anti-Poverty Strategy. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 131 together. Information on poverty levels, deprivation and social exclusion is provided in the EU survey on income and living conditions, which is conducted on an annual basis by the Central Statistics Office. The most recent results were published on 28 November and refer to 2006. Data from the survey indicate that the overall consistent poverty...

Anti-Poverty Strategy. (4 Dec 2007)

Martin Cullen: I am not in a position to disclose tomorrow's budget. One child in consistent poverty is one too many, let alone 96,000. Deputy Shortall raised an important point and it gets to the nub of the matter. The issue for many agencies and voluntary organisations is not just about money from my Department. There is a range of issues on how the agencies operate and how we can get unemployed...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (29 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA), which is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare staff of the Health Service Executive, is one of a number of social assistance schemes which, with effect from 1 May 2004, is subject to a habitual residence condition. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has advised that the person concerned is not entitled to supplementary welfare...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (28 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: Under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Each application is...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (28 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: The bereavement grant is a payment designed to assist families with death and funeral expenses. It is a scheme that relates specifically to those who have made PRSI contributions and is payable on the death of an insured person, his/her spouse and dependent children under age 18 or under age 22 if in full-time education. The grant is payable if the relevant insured person had: 156 PRSI...

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (28 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: Due to the untimely death of the Branch Manager in Dunmanway arrangements had to be put in place immediately to ensure continuity of service to customers. All claims originally catered for in Dunmanway were transferred to the Department's office in Bantry as an interim arrangement to ensure that payments were not interrupted. Arrangements were subsequently made to distribute the claims...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (28 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: The amounts of Pay related Social Insurance (PRSI) received by my Department in respect of employer, employee and self-employed contributions, from 2004 to the 30 th of September 2007 are set out in the following table: 2004 2005 2006 Provisional Jan-Sept. 2007 € Million € Million € Million € Million Employer PRSI 4,000 4,512 5,167 4,344 Employee PRSI 1,258 1,218 1,380 1,189...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 377 and 378 together. At the end of September, the latest month for which full expenditure data is available, the amount spent on social insurance based income supports was €5,318 million. The figure for social assistance payments was €5,975 million. The corresponding amounts for the full year in 2007 are expected to be €7,202 million and €8,219...

Written Answers — Debt Management System: Debt Management System (27 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: The overall goal of my Department's Debt Management Strategy is to actively pursue the recovery of debt to maximise recovery levels, with due regard to value for money and with particular emphasis on recovery from people no longer dependant on welfare payments. The objectives of the strategy are: To maximise the recovery of overpayments To efficiently record, report and monitor the...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (27 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: The following table outlines the number of full-time equivalent posts occupied in this Department on 31 October 2007 and 31 October 2002. Description Posts occupied at 31 Oct 2007 Posts occupied 31 Oct 2002 Permanent 4,393 4,445 Temporary 122 58 Contract 0 0

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (27 Nov 2007)

Martin Cullen: The expenditure incurred by my Department on air fares for the period 2004 to 2007 is set out in the following table. Details of individual flight classes are not recorded separately. As a general principle, it is the policy of my Department that staff travel on economy class tickets. Business class tickets are generally only purchased in respect of long haul flights. First class travel...