Results 3,421-3,440 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: It is assumed the question refers to the practice of allowing time off in lieu, TOIL, of paid overtime for staff on certain occasions where staff are in attendance beyond normal hours. In my Department, compensatory leave may be granted, in the form of time off in lieu of payment for extra attendance outside normal hours for staff up to and including the grade of higher executive...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The holding and use of personal information is governed by the Data Protection Act 1988 and the Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003. On entering the Department, all staff members sign up to the terms of these Acts and staff with particular access to personnel files are briefed on the confidentiality of the nature of their work. All personnel files in my Department are safely and securely...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Under the career break scheme for Civil Servants, a total of ten staff in my Department have availed of unpaid leave to pursue a course of study in their own time since 2002, as follows: 2002, one; 2003, one; 2004, three; and 2005, five. A career break can be taken for a number of reasons, one of which is educational, and there are no terms or conditions relating to academic achievement...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: A total of €6,413 has been spent by my Department on briefcases since June 2002. All of these briefcases have been purchased in bulk and held in my Department's central store from where they are issued to staff as required. The briefcases have been issued to staff as follows: 2002, 111; 2003, 126; 2004, 92; and 2005, 88. The largest single amount paid by my Department for a briefcase is...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Personal digital assistants, PDAs, are not generally supplied to staff in my Department. A small number of PDAs have been purchased for research purposes by the information systems division in my Department, the most expensive of which cost €660. The Department's e-mail system has been in place for some time and does not provide the integration facilities required to use PDAs effectively....

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The following is a breakdown of staff in each grade in my Department who are currently on sick leave in excess of six months: Grade Number of Staff Services Officer 1 Clerical Officer 34 Staff Officer 3 Executive Officer 6 Higher Executive Officer 6 Assistant Principal 1 Principal Officer 1 Total 52 My Department has identified the issue of addressing and...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The amounts paid to the company in each year since 2000 are as follows: Year Amount 2000 Attendance at conferences and events IEP 2,651 Membership subscription IEP 21,447 Review of IS Division IEP 243,998 Review of Application Integration Strategies IEP 8,470 2001 Attendance at Conferences IEP 307.48 Membership subscription IEP 48,000 2002 Attendance at...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Details of my Department's contracts with the company concerned since 2000 are as follows: Year Amount (Euro) Project(s) 2000 109,601 (1) Service Delivery Modernisation Prototype 2001 4,356,272 (1) Civil Registration Modernisation 2002 2,173,564 (1) Civil Registration Modernisation 2003 80,542 (1) IS Services management support 2004 18,150 (1) Reach 2005 nil...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Rent supplements are available to eligible people through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my Department has any function in determining entitlement in individual cases. People in full-time education are not eligible normally to receive assistance, including rent...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Deserted wife's benefit is a payment made to a woman deserted by her husband. Entitlement to payment is based on social insurance contributions paid by the wife or her husband. An earnings limit was introduced for deserted wife's benefit in 1992. The limit, which applied only to new claims after August 1992, is currently €2,697.38 a year, gross earnings. Where earnings are in excess of...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (13 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: In order to qualify for an old age contributory pension a person must have entered social insurance at least ten years before reaching pension age, have a minimum number of paid full-rate employment contributions on his or her record, currently 260, and have a yearly average of at least ten contributions paid or credited from 1953, when the unified system of social insurance came into effect,...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Students pursuing a full-time course of study are disqualified from receiving unemployment assistance under section 126(1) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 1993. Payment of unemployment assistance, to the person concerned, was disallowed on the grounds that he was not available for and was not genuinely seeking work as he is a full time student. The back to education allowance is a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: People in receipt of social welfare or health service executive payments, who have been prescribed a special diet as a result of a specified medical condition and whose means are insufficient to meet their needs, may qualify for a diet supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The south eastern area Health Service Executive has advised that no diet supplement claim has been...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The Dublin/mid-Leinster area of the Health Service Executive, which administers the rent supplement scheme on my behalf, has advised that the person concerned received a reduced rate of supplement for September 2005 as she was not resident in her accommodation for the full month. She moved into the accommodation in question on 7 September and received rent supplement of €856.60 for the...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (13 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The quarterly national household survey for the first quarter of 2002 shows overall occupational and private pensions coverage in the construction industry at 35.8% for employees and 48.4% for those who are self-employed. The main occupational scheme in the sector is the construction federation operatives pensions scheme. This scheme operates as a registered employment agreement under the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: For people paying for natural gas on the Bord Gáis standard tariff, the natural gas allowance covers a credit of up to €47.67 in each two-monthly billing period in winter and a credit of up to €35.67 in each two-monthly billing period in summer. Recipients on one of the other tariffs can get an allowance up to this value. On 1 October 2005, these amounts increased to €59.71 in each...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 Oct 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 Health Service Executive has advised that the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (12 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned was in receipt of deserted wife's benefit. Following a review of her claim by a social welfare inspector a deciding officer disallowed payment with effect from 10 February 2005 on the grounds that she had been cohabiting from that date until 24 August 2005. As a consequence, she is deemed to have been overpaid a total of €4,320.40. The person has appealed against this...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Child dependant increase, CDI, is paid with social welfare payments in respect of each qualified child up to age 18 years. This age limit can be extended to age 22 years in certain circumstances, including where the parent of a full-time student is in receipt of a long-term social welfare payment such as one-parent family payment, or a short-term social welfare scheme for six months, and...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (12 Oct 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The Department's activities require the engagement of a range of consultancy expertise. Broadly, expertise is sought under three main headings: support with strategic programmes aimed at enhancing the delivery of the Department's services, such as the service delivery modernisation programme, technical consultancies relating to information technology systems, and consultancy assistance in...