Results 2,761-2,780 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: 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 Construction Industry Monitoring Agency, the Labour Court and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 55 and 67 together. My Department provides child income support in a number of ways. The principal support is 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 €111.91 at the...

Written Answers — Emigrant Support Services: Emigrant Support Services (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The role of my Department in supporting Irish emigrant groups abroad has centred on providing good quality, clear and comprehensive information for Irish people who wish to return to live in Ireland. My Department ensures that appropriate and relevant information for our emigrants abroad is available by funding and supporting the various voluntary agencies involved in this work. In carrying...

Written Answers — Identity Fraud: Identity Fraud (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Since my Department assumed direct responsibility for the allocation of PPS numbers in 2000, we put in place and have continuously improved operational structures and processes. Allocation of the PPS number as an identity reference number is dependent on the production of sufficient evidence to establish the uniqueness and integrity of the identity. Procedures at registration and supporting...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Agency: Social Welfare Agency (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: As I stated on 27 October 2005 in my reply to questions reference Nos. 30955/05 and 30980/05, my Department is pursuing a modernisation programme which aims to build on the quality service it provides at present and to ensure an excellent service is maintained into the future. The establishment of a separate agency to administer and deliver social welfare payments is one of a number of...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 51, 54, 63, 69 and 132 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 one of 2004 to 51.5% in the same quarter of 2005. The decline is within the margin of error for the survey so the position appears to be...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department has responsibility for the management and administration of the PPS numbers. Since taking over this role from Revenue, we have monitored the use of numbers and enhanced our controls to minimise fraudulent use of them. In recent years, the changing nature of the labour force, in particular the growth in workers from abroad, has raised the need for different and enhanced controls...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The aim of the national fuel scheme is to assist householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive payments with meeting the cost of their additional heating needs during the winter season. Fuel allowances are paid for 29 weeks from end-September to mid-April and are not intended to meet the full cost of heating. Budget 2006 provided for an increase in the rate of fuel...

Written Answers — Employment Policy: Employment Policy (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: In the face of rapid population ageing, the OECD considers that there is a need to promote better employment opportunities for older people. Much of the focus in this area revolves around the reform of social welfare pensions systems and early retirement schemes but the OECD points to the need for a broader reform agenda which includes welfare systems, employment and dismissal procedures in...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: EU Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 set out a number of rules to determine which country pays family benefits. The rules provide that the amount of family benefits in the state where a person works has priority over the amount of payment in the state where a person lives. If the amount of family benefits in the state in which a person lives is higher than that in the state in which she or he...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Family income supplement is designed to provide financial support for employees on low earnings with families. This preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might otherwise only be marginally better off than if he or she were claiming other social welfare payments. My Department has received 808 new or first-time applications for family income...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Since 2000, a total of 2,533 PRSI exemption certificates has 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 attached. PRSI exemptions are issued in accordance with Article 97 of SI 312/1996. The legislation provides for an...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: A range of supports are provided by my Department's locally based facilitators to persons in active age groups who are dependent on social welfare payments. The primary role of facilitators is to assist the long-term unemployed and other long-term welfare dependants back to work, training or further education by providing them on an individual basis with assistance to access the necessary...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department administers a range of back to education programmes, as part of its overall employment support services, to encourage and facilitate people on certain social welfare schemes to return to work. Programmes range from basic literacy courses through to certain postgraduate university courses, and include the back to education allowance scheme, which covers full-time second and third...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I understand that the Deputy is concerned in particular about the current arrangements applying in the case of old age pension where a landholder leases land or is otherwise in possession of land which is fallow or idle. While there were no specific measures regarding the leasing of land in the recent budget, it contained a number of important measures which are designed to target resources...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The one-parent family payment, OPFP, acts as a safety net for people where there is inadequate maintenance, where maintenance payments are irregular, or where efforts to secure maintenance in the first place fail. Applicants for OPFP are required to make ongoing efforts to look for adequate maintenance from their former spouses, or, in the case of unmarried applicants, the other parent of...

Written Answers — Emigrant Support Services: Emigrant Support Services (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The role of my Department in supporting Irish emigrant groups abroad has centred on providing good quality, clear and comprehensive information for Irish people who wish to return to live in Ireland. My Department ensures that such information for our emigrants abroad is available by funding and supporting the various voluntary agencies involved in this work. In carrying out these functions...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: 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 to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes a basic income support payment and a rent supplement payment, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, HSE. Neither I nor my Department has any function in relation to decisions on individual claims. In calculating the amount of supplementary welfare allowance payable to any...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Social welfare programmes aim to be responsive to the needs of those who depend on income maintenance support while providing incentives to assist people to become more independent financially, particularly through employment. A number of measures have been introduced in recent years to remove disincentives to taking up employment and to assist in the transition from welfare to work. These...