Results 2,821-2,840 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: We could care for them by putting them in residential care or organising home help for them. It is a joined-up Government issue and I will put some pressure on.

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I agree with Deputy Finian McGrath that there are still problems in respect of carers and the distance to be travelled. We have managed to make substantial improvements but I intend to keep up that pressure. I acknowledge that carers save the taxpayer funds, which is one of the reasons carer's allowance was started in the first place, namely, to encourage people to be cared for at home to...

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 17 together. The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under age 66 who are in receipt...

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I acknowledge the work Deputy Cowley does in this area and I have had many meetings with emigrant groups in the United Kingdom in the past year. Deputy Stagg has also raised this matter in the House and elsewhere. I want to extend free travel to those living in the United Kingdom in receipt of Irish pensions. Some 45,000 people in the UK receive pensions from my Department. I am strongly...

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I am of the view, and I am legally advised, that Chancellor Brown will not be able to introduce a scheme to allow Irish people have free travel in the UK and not extend it to those from France, Greece, Spain and the other EU member states. While the Irish Post might state it, Chancellor Brown will not be able to introduce the measure on the basis outlined by Deputy Stagg. Chancellor Brown...

Social Welfare Benefits. (9 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The regulations allow certain exemptions regarding cross-border and interterritorial travel to be applied if a land mass is contiguous, as Northern Ireland is to us. However, it is an aside. It is not the main issue. All I can state is that I will continue to examine this. I have not given up on it. However, I must be straight with the House. That is the position at the moment. I will...

Written Answers — Health Levy: Health Levy (8 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The health levy yield for each of the years 2002 to 2005 is as set down in the following table: Year â'¬ million Notes 2002 701.4 final figure 2003 793.7 final figure 2004 822 provisional figure 2005 979 provisional figure

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (8 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years, or over. It is also available to carers and to people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments. The scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (8 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The provision of information in a clear and accessible 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 under social insurance, social assistance and other supports and are kept informed of changes and improvements as they...

Written Answers — Homeless Persons: Homeless Persons (8 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The issue of determining if a person is regarded as homeless is a matter for the housing authorities. Neither I nor my Department have any function in relation to the matter. Homeless persons have the same entitlements as any other Irish citizen under the social welfare system. There is no requirement that a person must spend any length of time on the street or in a hostel in order to qualify...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (8 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The PRSI yield for the year 2003 for each PRSI class collected through the PAYE system is as outlined in the following table: 2003 PRSI Class Yield €m A 5,288,168,772 B 68,961,337 C 2,534,308 D 237,333,129 E 467,180 H 43,869,294 J 11,162,240 K 21,849,605 M 1,765,524 P 4,105 S 145,209,651 Unknown 5,405,029 Total 5,826,730,174 This analysis is...

Written Answers — Local Authority Charges: Local Authority Charges (8 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The setting of waste management charges and the introduction of waivers in respect of waste charges is, as stated by my colleague the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, a matter for each local authority. The introduction of a national social welfare scheme to address the issue is not considered feasible given the wide range of charging regimes and cost structures...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (8 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. Neither I nor my Department have any function in relation to decisions on individual claims. Under supplementary welfare allowance rules, rent supplement is not normally payable to couples where either of them is engaged in...

Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (7 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Self-employed workers generally pay class S contributions. The class at which contributions are paid and the number paid establishes the range of benefits and pensions towards which a contributor can build up entitlement. Class S contributors can accrue entitlement to the following payments: widow's or widower's contributory pension, orphan's contributory allowance, old age contributory...

Written Answers — Information Technology Initiatives: Information Technology Initiatives (7 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department will provide payment production services for the early child care supplement scheme on an agency basis for the office of the Minister for Health and Children. The scheme is to come into effect from April 2006. Payment of the supplement will be made on a quarterly basis, and three payments will issue during 2006, with the first payment expected to be made in the summer. However,...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (7 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned exhausted his entitlement to unemployment benefit on 2 March 2005. He applied for unemployment assistance from 3 March 2005. Several letters were issued to him requesting details of his efforts to find work. When no response was received, a deciding officer closed the claim. A letter advising the person concerned of that decision was issued to him on 3 May 2005. The...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (7 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. Neither I nor my Department has any function regarding decisions on individual claims. Section 195(b) Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 provides that the HSE may decide that a person is not entitled to SWA where it...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (7 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Subject to certain conditions, the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of rent to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation needs and who do not have accommodation available from any other...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (7 Feb 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to takes Questions Nos. 341 and 342 together. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, SWA, 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 or in the role of the executive's appeals process. Where a person is dissatisfied with the outcome...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (7 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. Neither I nor my Department has any function in relation to decisions on individual claims. Article 9(2)(d) of SI 382 of 1995 provides that a rent supplement shall not be payable in circumstances where a person has vacated...