Results 30,241-30,260 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (11 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The application for carer's allowance by the person concerned was received on the 26 January 2011. On the 25 February 2011, following examination of the medical evidence by a medical assessor, she was refused on the grounds that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. She was notified of this decision, the reasons for it...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (11 May 2011)
Joan Burton: A claim for Jobseeker's Allowance by the person concerned was disallowed by the Deciding Officer on the grounds that he did not satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition. 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...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The challenge for this new Government is unlike any faced before. The priority of this Government is to get our economy moving, restore confidence, fix our banking system and support the protection and creation of jobs. The success of our economic plans will lay the foundation for the rest of our agenda for change and the jobs initiative being announced today is the first step in this...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes mortgage interest supplement, is administered on behalf of the Department by the Community Welfare Services division of the Health Services Executive (HSE). Mortgage interest supplements provide short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: Social assistance provision to people of working age was the subject of a review that was carried out by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and published in November 2010. The review considered the desirability and feasibility of introducing a single social assistance payment for all people of working age. The report examined the current system of social assistance payments against...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: For 2011 the Department has a target of reviewing 780,000 individual welfare claims and to achieve â¬540 million in control savings. This figure is the value of the control activity in the Department and if this work did not take place there would, over time, be a similar increase in total social welfare expenditure. The prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an...
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The challenges facing the Irish pension system are significant. In particular, the task of financing increasing pension spending will fall to a diminishing share of the population. There are currently six workers for every pensioner and this ratio is expected to decrease to less than two to one by 2050. Increasing State pension age is one of the ways in which we can sustain the pensions...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement 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 available to them from any other source. In recent years, a significant number of people have come to rely on rent supplement for extended periods,...
- Written Answers — Departmental Contracts: Departmental Contracts (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: Government policy aims to facilitate the greater use of electronic payment systems in the economy in the interests of developing a modern payments environment in Ireland. In this regard, my Department is currently developing a Payment Strategy to enable the Department to continue to modernise the payment of welfare benefits in line with wider Government policies and objectives such as better...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (10 May 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 — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53, 66 and 171 together. The challenge for this new Government is unlike any faced before. The priority of this Government is to get our economy moving, restore confidence, fix our banking system and support the protection and creation of jobs. The success of our economic plans will lay the foundation for the rest of our agenda for change and the jobs...
- Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 54, 60, 73, 190 and 192 together. From 1st January 2011 policy and funding responsibility for FÃS 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 2010. The FÃS schemes involved include the Community Employment...
- Written Answers — Public Services Card: Public Services Card (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The Department has developed, in conjunction with a number of other Government 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,...
- Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The purpose of the rural social scheme is to provide income support for farmers and fisherpersons who are currently in receipt of specified social welfare payments. Persons are engaged for 191â2 hours per week to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. Participants are paid the equivalent of the maximum rate of the social welfare payment they are entitled to plus â¬20...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 58, 61 and 72 together. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes mortgage interest supplement (MIS), is administered on behalf of the Department by the Community Welfare Services division of the Health Services Executive. MIS provides short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in...
- Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 63 together. The Programme for Government states that a new National Employment and Entitlements Service will be established under the management of the Department of Social Protection. The objective is to integrate the employment support services currently provided directly by the Department of Social Protection with those currently provided by FÃS...
- Written Answers — Departmental Estimates: Departmental Estimates (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The Estimates for the Department of Social Protection, as published last February in the 2011 Revised Estimates Volume, are based, in the main, on an analysis of trends as regards likely numbers of recipients and average value of payments in 2011. Actual trends on individual schemes are closely monitored on an ongoing basis. Given the demand led nature of the wide range of schemes operated...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that the breakdown of the number of disallowed social welfare claims for the years 2009 and 2010 which were subsequently overturned on appeal by Appeals Officers and the categories into which they fall is given in the table. Overall, the number of appeals determined by Appeals officer which had a favourable outcome for appellants (i.e....
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 65, 175 and 183 together. Figures in regard to the numbers of cases received and awaiting decision, by scheme for 2010 and 2011, the average time taken to process appeals by summary decision and by oral hearing by scheme type and the number of staff in the Social Welfare Appeals Office are given in the tables attached to this reply. I am informed by the...
- Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (10 May 2011)
Joan Burton: The National Employment Action Plan is the main activation measure for jobseekers and provides for a systematic engagement of the employment services with unemployed people. Under the Plan, all persons between the ages of 18 and 65 years, who are approaching 3 months on the Live Register, are identified by the Department of Social Protection and referred to FÃS for interview with the aim of...