Results 30,581-30,600 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

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

Joan Burton: The person concerned was paid jobseeker's benefit with effect from 12 August 2010. During a review of her claim, she indicated that as she has a young child, she is available for part-time work only. In order to qualify for jobseeker's benefit, a person must, in addition to a number of other qualifying conditions, be available for and actively seeking full-time work. Her claim was...

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

Joan Burton: The prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the Department. The Department processes in excess of 2 million claims each year and it makes payments to over one million people every week. The vast majority of people are receiving the entitlement due to them. The Department's Control Policy aims to minimise fraud and abuse of...

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

Joan Burton: Recipients of jobseeker's benefit who engage in self-employment are obliged to notify my Department of each day of self-employment. Where the number of days worked in a given week of unemployment is less than four (based on a six day week excluding Sundays), the level of entitlement is reduced by one sixth of the maximum weekly rate applicable to that person for each day of employment or...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Let us be clear about the matter. This Government took office almost three years after Ireland's extreme banking crisis began on St. Patrick's Day in 2008, when a collapse in the share price of Anglo Irish Bank signalled the beginning of the economic collapse of this country, the closure of many businesses and the loss of employment for tens of thousands of people. The previous Government's...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Deputy will be aware that an unemployed person who qualifies for the community employment programme under jobseeker's allowance, jobseeker's benefit or farm assist but who does not wish take up an offer may be able to transfer the eligibility to his or her spouse. In this regard, qualified adult dependants aged 25 and over of eligible persons may avail of the spousal swap option. This...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Disability allowance is a means tested payment for people with specified disabilities whose incomes fall below certain limits and who are between 16 and 66 years of age. Eligibility is subject to a medical examination and a means test. Under the community employment eligibility criteria, adult dependents of persons in receipt of disability allowances are not considered eligible unless they...

Departmental Offices (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: My Department currently operates a network of 63 local offices throughout the country. These offices are responsible for administering the jobseeker's payments schemes, one parent family payments and employment supports. They also provide a range of support services to assist groups such as the long-term unemployed, lone parents and people with disabilities to return to the active labour...

Departmental Offices (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I have taken a close interest in the works of NAMA and all its complex relationships with property developers, buildings and so on. I will ask the Department if any such arrangements are being made for the acquisition of premises, whether for purchase or lease, but I have not been advised of that. I will make inquiries and pass the information on to the Deputy. As the Deputy knows,...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: In general, the social welfare system processes payments from the age of 18. The minimum age limit of 16 was established in 1953 as a qualifying condition for the disabled person's maintenance allowance and the age limit was maintained when that scheme was replaced by the disability allowance scheme in 1996. The review of the disability allowance scheme published in November 2010 recommended...

Social Welfare Code (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I thank the Deputy for his comments. When the Joint Committee on Social Protection recommences, this may be a matter that the Deputy, with all his experience, can raise for discussion. There are 1,926 recipients of disability allowance aged between 16 and 18. This represents about 1.9% of the total number of people receiving disability allowance. The total spend on disability allowance for...

Child Support (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 44 together. The social security rights of people moving around the EU are governed by EU regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. These have been in existence in one form or another since 1959 and 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...

Child Support (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Child benefit and other such supports are paid as direct payments to parents. In many EU member states, similar direct payments are far lower, some at even less than €20 a month, because of a lower cost of living or that child care and preschool education is provided by the State rather than through a direct payment to the parent. If a worker here has a child resident in another country,...

Child Support (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The total payments for the past three years were approximately €56 million. In the overall child benefit budget, that may not seem like a lot of money but to people relying on social welfare income, €56 million is a lot of money. If we are to retain confidence in the social welfare contract between the citizen and the State, we must ensure we can tell people that the payments are...

Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The current average times to process social welfare appeals, by scheme, based on figures for 2010 are given in the detailed table following this reply, which I will not read out unless Deputy Kelleher really wants me to. The figures include cases revised by deciding officers of the Department in addition to those decided by appeals officers. There are no figures readily available for the...

Social Welfare Appeals (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The current information on appeals is 29.7 weeks, a lengthy period of time in respect of domiciliary care allowance. Parents applying for this allowance for the first time can encounter significant difficulties. I told Deputy Kelleher earlier that, on taking up office, one of the first things I arranged to do was to meet the people in the management of the Social Welfare Appeals Office,...

Employment Rights (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Employment Appeals Tribunal is an independent body bound to act judicially and was set up to provide a speedy, fair, inexpensive and informal means for individuals to seek remedies for alleged infringements of their statutory rights. Where compensation is awarded by an Employment Appeals Tribunal, the award is subject to a maximum of 104 weeks remuneration. Remuneration includes basic...

Family and Child Income Supports (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: Family and child income support payments both assist parents in contributing to the costs associated with raising children and play an important role in the objective of reducing child poverty. The Government is conscious that these payments are an important source of income for all families, particularly during a time of recession and unemployment. A value for money review of child income...

Family and Child Income Supports (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputy Kelleher for his good wishes. I am unsure whether Fianna Fáil has decided on its spokespersons, but I welcome the Deputy here today. The programme for Government contains a commitment to maintain social welfare rates. I cannot at this time give an explicit commitment on child benefit rates, as specific decisions on payment rates are made in a budgetary context. However, the...

Family and Child Income Supports (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The Department and I are currently reviewing the establishment of the commission and I hope to be in a position to make an announcement in the near future. I hope the issue of child and family income supports will be the first matter to be considered. As the Deputy knows, a great deal of work has been done in this area down the years and I hope the commission will be in a position to report...

Habitual Residency Regulations (30 Mar 2011)

Joan Burton: The habitual residence condition applies to social assistance payments and to child benefit. The determination of a person's habitual residence is made in accordance with five factors which are set out in legislation, as follows: the length and continuity of residence in the State or in any other particular country; the length and purpose of any absence from the State; the nature and pattern...