Results 27,881-27,900 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: From 1st January 2011 policy and funding responsibility for FÁS functions in relation to employment and community employment services was transferred to this Department in accordance with the provisions of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011. Responsibility for FÁS training programmes rests with the Minister for Education and Skills. The payment rates on community...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing in this case. There has been a very significant increase in the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office since 2007 when the intake was 14,070 to 2010 when the intake rose to 32,432. This has significantly...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (24 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 134 together. €11.1m and €13.8m were paid out in respect of the companies concerned. Rebates to employers and lump sums paid directly to employees are paid from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). The total amount paid out in redundancy rebates to employers to date in 2011 is €185.3m. My Department does not compile information on rebates paid out...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the disability allowance claim of the person concerned was disallowed following an assessment by a Medical Assessor who expressed the opinion that she was medically unsuitable for the allowance. An appeal was registered on 12 October 2011 and in accordance with the statutory procedures the relevant department papers and the comments of...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: Social insurance credits are awarded in circumstances such as unemployment and illness, and their purpose is to protect the social insurance entitlements of insured persons during periods when they may not be in a position to pay contributions. Credits may be awarded for periods when an insured person is receiving one of a range of benefits or allowances, including jobseeker's benefit or...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 15 together. The total amount paid out in redundancy rebates to employers was €152.2 million in 2006; €167.4 million in 2007; €161.8 million in 2008; €247.9 million in 2009; €373.2 million in 2010 and €185.3 million so far in 2011. The purpose of the Redundancy Payments Scheme is to compensate workers, under the Redundancy Payments Acts,...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The National Employment and Entitlements Service as provided for in the Programme for Government, is being established by the Department. The new service will integrate employment and benefit payment services, currently delivered by FÁS and the Department, respectively, within the Department and will be based on a case management approach with the objective of providing a more customised...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single payment to help meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. Those who qualify are normally in receipt of a social welfare or HSE payment. The principal consideration in making a single payment of SWA to address a...

Written Answers — Public Services Card: Public Services Card (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The phased introduction of the Public Services Card started last month. The registration process is currently being piloted in a number of local offices in the Department, including Tullamore, Sligo and Kings Inn in Dublin. Roll out of the card will be done as securely and speedily as possible but it will take a number of years to complete. The initial focus will be on roll out to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third level education by enabling eligible people on certain social welfare payments to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course that leads to a higher qualification than that already held. An...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The Estimate for my Department in 2011 provides for expenditure of over €1.1 billion on the one parent family payment. For the purposes of one parent family payment, there is no entitlement where earnings exceed a threshold of €425 gross per week. Where earnings are less than €425, the first €146.50 is disregarded and half of the balance is assessed as means. The rate of payment is...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: Since January 2009 payment of illness benefit is limited to a maximum of 104 weeks (624 pay days) in most cases. There are a number of possible social welfare payments for which a customer may qualify thereafter, depending on their circumstances. Currently, letters are sent to illness benefit customers 13 weeks before their claim is due to expire. The customer is advised about other possible...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: In cases where a jobseeker customer takes up temporary work for periods of up to 4 weeks, or avails of a training course of up to 8 weeks, arrangements are in place to temporarily suspend the claim so that it can be re-instated without delay when the work or training finishes. When a customer receives an offer of employment which is expected to last no more than four weeks, they should tell...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers and works to ensure that claims are processed in the most efficient way possible, having regard to the eligibility conditions that apply to each scheme and to ensure, insofar as is possible, that funding is targeted at those most in need. Processing times vary across schemes, depending on the differing...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 33, 36, 42 and 43 together. JobBridge, the national internship scheme, came into operation on 1st July. JobBridge provides internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months for unemployed individuals on the Live Register, in organisations in the private, public and community voluntary sectors. The first internships commenced in mid-July and, as of Friday...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: My Department has not undertaken any procurement for fingerprint scanning equipment. Some electronic devices that are in use (e.g. laptops) may have such facilities but their use is not mandatory.

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 24 together. Clearly it is not my view that "the act of going on maternity is an indication of an inadequate and unsustained commitment to the social insurance system". The contributory principle, however, does rely on adequate real contributions being made to fund the system. As outlined in previous replies there is a link between contributions paid...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 25 and 28 together. I am very conscious of the needs of people on social welfare and fully appreciate that a wide range of groups depend solely on their welfare payments. As we approach a very tough Budget in December, I will be doing my utmost to protect the most vulnerable people in our society, including carers. Sustainable public finances are a...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: I understand that by 'agency' the Deputy is referring to temporary staff. Recruitment of temporary clerical officers is carried out, on behalf of my Department, by the Public Appointments Service. Temporary clerical staff are recruited on a contract basis to cover absences of permanent staff on maternity leave, long term sick leave, carers leave and also to provide cover for some staff...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Nov 2011)

Joan Burton: The Office of Public Works has responsibility for the acquisition and maintenance of office accommodation for the Department of Social Protection. Accordingly, my Department has requested that the Office acquire suitable accommodation in Balbriggan. Until accommodation is available in Balbriggan, supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) payments for parts of the Balbriggan area of North...