Results 30,201-30,220 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Public Procurement Contracts: Public Procurement Contracts (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The information requested by the Deputy is currently being compiled within my Department and will be made available to the Deputy as soon as possible. Procurement by my department is undertaken based on the requirement to achieve value for money and bearing in mind our obligations under EU and national legislation, particularly concerned with transparency and non-discrimination: this does...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The purpose of rent supplement 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. The scheme is intended as a temporary income support payment and is not designed to be a medium to long term housing support or a...

Written Answers — National Partnership Agreement: National Partnership Agreement (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The Government acknowledges the vital role of the community and voluntary sector working in partnership with local communities, State agencies and local authorities. The Government is committed to tackling Ireland's economic crisis in a way that is fair, balanced and which recognises the need for social solidarity and it values dialogue with the representatives of the voluntary and community...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Following the publication of the National Pensions Framework in March 2010, a technical implementation group was established to develop the legislative, regulatory and administrative infrastructure required to put the reforms announced in the framework into operation. The group is chaired by the Department of Social Protection and includes representatives from other key Departments and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (17 May 2011)

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

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Details of the number of staff, and full-time equivalent posts, in the social welfare offices in Kilbarrack and Coolock are shown in the table below. There are no unfilled posts in either office at this time. Grade No. of Staff in Kilbarrack No. of Posts in Kilbarrack No. of Staff in Coolock No. of Posts in Coolock Higher Executive Officer 1 1 1 1 Executive Officer 5 5 4 4 Staff...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The person concerned has been awarded a weekly supplementary welfare allowance of €137.60 pending a decision on his claim for illness benefit. The Health Service Executive has advised that the person concerned is in receipt of a rent supplement payment of €787.33 per month. It has further advised that it is reviewing the rent supplement entitlement in this case and will advise the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 283, 284 and 285 together. The Department has been accepting new claims for domiciliary care allowance since 1 April 2009. Statistics relating to the period prior to April 2009 are not held by this Department and are a matter for the HSE, as the previous administrator of the scheme. The following table sets out the number of domiciliary care allowance...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Figures regarding the numbers of disability allowance appeals which received a favourable decision in 2008, 2009 and 2010 are given in the table that follows this reply. Overall, the number of appeals determined by appeals officers which had a favourable outcome for appellants - either allowed or partially allowed - were 3,288 (35%) of 9,423 determined in 2008, 3,695 (37%) of 10,027...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: Figures in regard to the numbers of cases received by category for 2008, 2009 and 2010 are given in the tables that follow this reply. Overall, the number of appeals determined by appeals officer which had a favourable outcome for appellants (i.e. either allowed or partially allowed) were 3,288 (35%) of 9,423 determined in 2008, 3,695 (37%) of 10,027 determined in 2009 and 4,747 (27%) of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: I understand the Deputy's question relates specifically to jobseekers schemes. In determining entitlement for jobseeker's allowance, a customer must satisfy a means test. The time taken to process individual claims varies significantly having regard to the circumstances in each case. Straightforward means-tested cases are "fast-tracked" by deciding officers in local offices. More complex...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The payments relating to disabled children administered by the Department include domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance. Domiciliary care allowance is a payment to the parent or carer of a child who has a disability so severe that it requires the child to need care and attention or supervision substantially in excess of another child of the same age. The child must be likely to...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (17 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The dental treatment benefit scheme is an employment-based scheme, available to customers and their dependent partners who have paid a certain number of PRSI contributions. For claims made in 2011, customers aged over 25 years need the following to qualify: (1) a total of 260 Class A, H, E, or P PRSI contributions paid since first starting work; (2) 39 contributions either paid or credited...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (12 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The Health Service Executive (HSE) has acknowledged receipt of an appeal against the decision of the Community Welfare Officer not to award a rent supplement to the person concerned. A decision on entitlement will be made by the HSE's designated Appeals Officer in due course.

Written Answers — Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (12 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) assists people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. The role of money advisers is to help clients to assess their financial situation, make a budget plan and deal with creditors. MABS undertake recruitment as vacancies arise in their services, either on a temporary or permanent basis. Vacancies are...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (12 May 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 — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (12 May 2011)

Joan Burton: The then Minister for Finance announced the introduction of a community work placement initiative for up to 5,000 persons in his Budget statement to Dáil Éireann on the 7th December 2010. The initiative, known as Tús, was launched on the 21st December 2010 and work on developing the necessary implementation structures, including running trials, has been underway since then. The aim of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 May 2011)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance was received on the 11th February 2011. This application was referred to one of the Department's Medical Assessors who found that the child was not medically eligible for the allowance. A letter issued on the 30th March 2011 advising of the decision.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 May 2011)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received on the 29th March 2011. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department's Medical Assessors for their medical opinion on the case. When this opinion is received a decision will issue to the customer.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 May 2011)

Joan Burton: An application for disability allowance by the person concerned was disallowed by the Deciding Officer on the grounds that the person concerned was not medically suitable for disability allowance. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 22 March 2011. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the...