Results 30,561-30,580 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 36, 37, 39, 40, 43, 48 and 49 together. This Government takes up office in the context of a profound banking, fiscal and jobs crisis and the decision to seek external financial assistance which has been provided by the EU and the IMF. This crisis has been caused by the reckless mismanagement of the economy by previous Governments. The priority of this...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Tús is a new activation measure which will provide 5,000 people on the Live Register with a work placement opportunity with community, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations and service providers. These work placements will be 12 months long and support the work of the voluntary sector across the country. Persons on the Live Register for at least 12 months and in receipt of jobseeker's...

Written Answers — Civil Registration Service: Civil Registration Service (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The administration of the Civil Registration Service is statutorily a matter for the Registrar General. I have made enquiries with the Registrar General and he has informed me that the general review of the provisions of the Civil Registration Act 2004 is expected to be completed by the middle of this year. There are a range of issues to be considered in relation to the scope and...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Late last year agreement was reached between the Health Service Executive (HSE) and unions representing the Community Welfare Officers that the staff of the Community Welfare Service (CWS) would transfer to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1st January 2011 on a secondment basis initially. The period of secondment is to last for 9 months until the end of September 2011....

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (30 Mar 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 (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Activation measures are designed to assist people in receipt of social welfare payments to move into employment and that they are facilitated in doing so by ensuring that they have relevant skills in a changing labour market. The process underway, wherein the Employment and Community Services elements of FÁS, as well as the Community Welfare Service, are being integrated into the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The focus of the back to education allowance (BTEA) is to assist those who are most marginalised and distant from the labour market to acquire the necessary education to improve their chances of becoming independent of the social welfare system. The BTEA scheme can offer participation in second and third level education by enabling eligible people on social welfare to continue to receive a...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: An analysis of the distributive and poverty impacts on families of the tax/welfare package in Budget 2011, including the impact of the four Budgets over the period 2009 to 2011 inclusive, was carried out by my Department last December with the technical assistance of the Social Inclusion Division of the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs. I arranged to have this analysis...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The need for additional resources to deal with a very significant increase in the number of appeals received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office has been recognised by my Department. The annual intake of appeals has increased from 14,070 in 2007 to 32,432 in 2010, an increase of 18,362 (130.5%) and currently it appears that another 30,000 will be received during 2011. In this context, 9...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection operates a range of employment support measures designed to encourage and support social welfare recipients of working age to reduce their dependency on welfare payments. These include the employment support schemes, the activation programme and the Department's role in the National Employment Action Plan. The Department also supports new activation...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: On 1 January 2011, the Department assumed responsibility for making redundancy payments from the Social Insurance Fund. There are two types of redundancy payment made from the fund i.e. rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/liquidation. I can confirm that no...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: On 1 January 2011, the Department assumed responsibility for making redundancy payments from the Social Insurance Fund. There are two types of redundancy payment made from the fund i.e. rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/liquidation. I can confirm that a...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: 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 all employment and benefit support services in a single delivery unit which will provide a 'one stop shop' for people wishing to establish their benefit entitlements, seeking employment and,...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The free travel scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by over 90 private operators in various parts of the country at an annual cost to the exchequer of some €74 million in 2010. As outlined in The National Recovery Plan 2011 – 2014, funding for the free travel scheme is now frozen at 2010 levels of expenditure for the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Illness Benefit is a short-term income support payment made to insured people who are unable to work due to illness or incapacity and who satisfy certain pay related social insurance (PRSI) conditions. It is a requirement of the scheme that a person must be incapable of work. However, for rehabilitative or occupational therapy purposes, customers, who have been in receipt of illness benefit...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The person concerned applied for carer's allowance on 28 January 2011. The case is currently awaiting investigation and on completion a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Each application is...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Health Service Executive has advised that payment of rent supplement ceased as the person concerned moved accommodation in August 2010. If the person concerned wishes to make a new application for rent supplement then she should contact the community welfare officer at her local health centre.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Health Service Executive has advised that the person concerned is in receipt of rent supplement of €350.70 which is her full entitlement based on her income from one-parent family payment and maintenance.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 24 January 2011. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 22...