Results 3,101-3,120 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: Fuel allowances are a supplementary entitlement payable over the winter heating season to eligible people in receipt of pensions and other qualifying social welfare schemes. Some 274,000 people receive this allowance, at an aggregate cost of â¬85.4 million this year. Fuel allowances are incorporated in the recipient's weekly payment and are not intended to meet heating costs in full. The...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: The person's claim for disability allowance was disallowed by a deciding officer on the grounds that they did not satisfy the statutory condition that a person must be habitually resident in this State. The person appealed this decision to the social welfare appeals office and an oral hearing was held on 8 November 2005. Having considered all the available evidence, including that adduced at...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: My Department operates a number of schemes which provide income support for people with disability or illness: disability benefit which is a payment made to insured people who are unable to work due to illness; invalidity pension which is paid to people who are permanently incapable of work because of illness or incapacity and who satisfy contribution conditions; disability allowance, a...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: My Department has no specific clothing assistance scheme for adults, though there is a back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance scheme administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, HSE, in respect of school-going children. In general, people are expected to meet normal clothing and footwear requirements as they arise from their household...
- Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: There have been no recent changes to PRSI which could impact of work-sharing and part-time workers. The most significant changes benefiting these workers were implemented in 1991 when part-time workers were brought into full social insurance coverage subject to a minimum earnings threshold. In 1997, changes were made to the home-maker's scheme to allow for the award of credited contributions...
- Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: Rent supplements are subject to a limit on the amount of rent that an applicant for rent supplement may incur. The limits vary according to geographic location and household size. My Department completed a review of the rent limits earlier this year in order in determine if the existing maximum rent limits required any adjustments in the light of the market situation in the sector. Following...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: The aim of the national fuel scheme is to assist householders on long-term social welfare or health board payments towards the cost of their additional heating needs during the winter season. Fuel allowances are paid for 29 weeks from end-September to mid-April and are not intended to meet the full cost of heating. Some 274,000, 151,000 with basic fuel allowance and 123,000 with smokeless...
- Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: Spouses of an employed or self-employed contributor are specifically excepted from social insurance contributions. This exclusion recognises the practical difficulties in establishing the nature of a genuine employment relationship in circumstances such as when a person employed under a contract of service, that is, as an employee, by his or her spouse is classed as an "excepted" contributor...
- Leaders' Questions. (30 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: Correct.
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: There is no provision for payments made towards future pension provision to be exempted from liability for PRSI contributions for self-employed contributors who are outside the PAYE system. To narrow the base for social insurance by introducing such a provision would give rise to a significant loss of contribution income for the social insurance fund, while still maintaining responsibility...
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: Liability for social insurance contributions is governed by social welfare legislation and the provisions provided therein. The Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 sets out the income liable to social insurance contributions from self-employed contributors. The basis of assessment or reckonable income of a self-employed is defined as meaning the aggregate income, excluding reckonable...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: Under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, an exceptional needs payment may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his or her own resources. The Dublin-mid-Leinster area of the executive has advised that it has no...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 268, 269 and 273 together. The carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people who are providing certain elderly or incapacitated persons with full-time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a certain limit. From January this year the maximum rate of carer's allowance for a carer under 66 years increased...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: Child benefit is payable in respect of all children up to the age of 16 years and continues to be paid in respect of children up to age 19 who are in full-time education, or who have a physical or mental disability. According to figures collected under the quarterly national household survey by the Central Statistics Office for the final quarter of 2004, there were an estimated 84,000...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: A deciding officer disallowed the unemployment assistance claim of the person concerned from 4 October 2005 on the grounds that he was not genuinely seeking employment. The deciding officer, taking into account all relevant circumstances based on the evidence provided by the claimant, was not satisfied he had been consistently seeking work. It is open to the person concerned to appeal this...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: The aim of the national fuel scheme is to assist householders who are in receipt of long-term social welfare or health service executive payments towards their additional heating needs during the winter season. It is a long-standing policy within the scheme that fuel allowances are not payable in cases where a person has access to his or her own fuel supply, or is benefiting from a subsidised...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 274 to 277, inclusive, together. My Department's policy is to ensure that a range of payment options is available to customers and that service is continually improved by providing access to the wide range of payment options and new services and facilities now available. Current payment methods include payment at post offices by means of a pension order book,...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for exceptional needs payments to assist with essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her household income or other resources. The Dublin north east area of the executive has...
- Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: My Department is due to decentralise all of its Dublin based headquarters sections to six locations throughout the country involving some 1,300 staff. It is scheduled to decentralise to Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon early in 2007, to Carrickmacross in 2008 and to Drogheda, Donegal and Buncrana in 2009. In addition, the Combat Poverty Agency and Comhairle, agencies under the aegis of my...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Nov 2005)
Séamus Brennan: The person concerned is in receipt of unemployment assistance at the weekly rate of â¬88.80 from 14 April 2004. His means, derived from the benefit of board and lodgings, are assessed at â¬260. In the case of wage earning families, means are calculated by deducting rent or mortgage and a parental allowance of â¬133.32 per week, or â¬120.63 in the case of a single parent family, from the...