Results 29,821-29,840 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 40 and 66 together. The Jobs Initiative recently announced by the Government contains additional labour market activation measures that aim to provide unemployed people with enhanced opportunities to maintain and develop their skills and competencies while also offering the possibility of securing valuable work experience. These measures will assist those...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: My Department is establishing a new National Employment and Entitlements Service, as provided for in the Programme for Government, which will integrate employment and benefit payment services within the Department. In establishing and developing the National Employment and Entitlements Service the Department has set out to design the new service based on a case management approach with the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that there are currently 2,395 carer's allowance cases on appeal and awaiting decision. The average waiting time for carer's allowance appeals dealt with by way of a summary decision in 2010 was 26.9 weeks, while the average time to process an oral hearing was 47.3 weeks. These processing times are calculated from the registration date of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. At the end of December 2010 there were 97,260 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 63% in the last three...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The social security rights of people moving around the EU are governed by EU Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. These Regulations, which have been in existence in one form or another since 1959, are designed to co-ordinate the social security systems of the various Member States so that people and their families are not disadvantaged when they move within the EU. A key principle of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Government discussion paper, "Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents", which was published in 2006, proposed that the category of lone parenthood would be abolished. Instead, a parental allowance would be made to all parents (living alone or with a partner) with young children on a low income. Since the launch of the discussion paper, extensive consultation has taken place with relevant...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Jobs Initiative introduced a package of measures to assist in employment generation, provide opportunities for those who have lost their jobs and generate confidence in the economy. The various tax changes announced in the Jobs Initiative are being carried in the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011. These measures include reductions in VAT and the Air Travel Tax and the introduction of a levy on...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The purpose of Tús is to focus on those people who are long-term unemployed. For this reason, eligibility is at present confined to those on the live register for 12 months and in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. These provisions are to ensure a targeted approach to those currently affected by long-term unemployment. Participants will, in the first instance, be identified by the...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The national internship scheme, which was announced as part of the Jobs Initiative on 10 May, 2011, replaces the skills development and internship programme, which was originally announced as part of Budget 2011 last December. The national internship scheme will provide internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months duration to those seeking employment. These internship opportunities...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department is subject to annual audit by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. As part of this audit, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General examines the regularity of the expenditure of the Department, including expenditure suspected as fraudulent, and control measures in place within the Department. The Audit of the 2010 Vote Account and of the Social Insurance...

Written Answers — Programmes for Government: Programmes for Government (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The back to education allowance (BTEA) is one of a range of activation supports and policies with the objective of assisting social welfare recipients to improve their life chances by facilitating access to employment, work experience, education and training. The focus of BTEA is to assist those who are most marginalised and distant from the labour market to acquire the necessary education to...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The national internship scheme is a Government scheme which will be administered by the Department of Social Protection in line with relevant government accounting and procedural practices. I have appointed a Steering Group chaired by Mr. Martin Murphy, Managing Director of HP Ireland. The Steering Group contains representatives from Glen Dimplex, Harmonia Publications, the National Youth...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department has developed, in conjunction with a number of other Departments, the specifications for a Public Services Card (PSC) under the Standard Authentication Framework Environment, or SAFE, programme. The specification provides for identification features, including a photograph. The aim is to develop a card that acts as a key for access to public services in general, identifying...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 59 together. The need for reform of the Joint Labour Committee system was clearly signalled in the Programme for Government. A very detailed report, the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreement Wage Setting Mechanisms, setting out a reform mechanism was finalised in April of this year and circulated to...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The role of the Citizens Information Board is to support the provision of information, advice and advocacy on a broad range of public and social services. To this end, the Citizens Information website, www.citizensinformation.ie, was developed to meet customer demands for fast, easy access to comprehensive information on rights and entitlements. The website covers a broad range of subjects...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: Tús is a community work placement initiative which will provide up to 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. Some €30 million has been provided in the Department's Estimates in 2011 to fund the roll-out of the initiative. This initiative is delivered through the network of local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta in...

Written Answers — Programme for Government: Programme for Government (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 60 and 342 together. The regulation of debt collectors is not a matter for this Department.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The rules which determine eligibility for FIS do not distinguish between public sector workers and private sector workers. There are currently approximately 24,410 people in receipt of a weekly family income supplement (FIS) payment of which 2,517 (10%) are recorded as public servants. During 2010 the number of public servants in receipt of FIS ran at approximately 11% of the total number of...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: Increasing pensions coverage, particular amongst the lower paid and those with gaps in their employment, is a priority for the Government. The introduction of an auto-enrolment system is one of the best ways in which we can do this. An inter-departmental/agency group, chaired by the Department of Social Protection is developing the legislative, regulatory and administrative infrastructure...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (15 Jun 2011)

Joan Burton: The Programme for Government sets out a commitment to resource a Jobs Initiative within the first 100 days of the start of the Government's term in office. These measures are intended to assist in employment generation, provide opportunities for those who have lost their jobs, and thus generate confidence in the economy. We delivered on this promise with the announcement of this initiative...