Results 3,601-3,620 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Following a review of his entitlements, a deciding officer disallowed the unemployment assistance claim of the person concerned on 15 June 2005 on the grounds that he is not available for and genuinely seeking full-time work. The person concerned has appealed this decision and his file has been forwarded to the independent social welfare appeals office for determination. Every effort is being...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department's Estimate for 2004 was €5,999,368,000. The surplus to be surrendered to the Exchequer at year end was less than 0.7% at €40,168,236. Underspends on the following heads contributed to the amount to be surrendered: A, administration; E, unemployment assistance; F, farm assist scheme; G, employment support services; I, one-parent family payment; J, widow's/widower's and...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The living alone allowance is an additional payment of €7.70 per week made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare type payments and who are living alone. It is also available to people under 66 years of age who are living alone and are receiving payments under one of a number of invalidity type schemes. The allowance was first introduced in 1977 and the...

Written Answers — Irish Language: Irish Language (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: As indicated in a previous reply, it has always been an objective of my Department to aim to provide quality customer service in Irish. This includes provision for translation of forms, leaflets and other documents; training of staff in spoken and written Irish and providing bilingual signage in public areas. To date in 2005, €8,504 has been spent on Irish translation, €3,176 on Irish...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Rent supplements are available through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. In general, people in full-time education are excluded from receiving assistance, including rent supplement, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. However, there is provision for continued payment of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department issued over 6.7 million cheques in 2004, of which 16,428 remained uncashed at their expiry date. Cheques issued by my Department can be cashed anytime up to six months after the date of issue. The reason cheques remained uncashed at their expiry date was because they had been lost, stolen, destroyed or were not cashed by customers or traders neglected to redeem them. In cases...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Diet supplements are provided for under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The amount of supplement payable is subject to a means test and depends on which of two categories of diet — low cost or high cost — has been prescribed by the applicant's medical adviser and the income of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Improvements in social welfare schemes and services are normally introduced by way of the annual budget and/or the biannual Social Welfare Acts. Due to the funding implications normally associated with such improvements, I have no immediate plans to introduce them in another context.

Written Answers — Bilateral Social Security Agreements: Bilateral Social Security Agreements (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Ireland has concluded bilateral social security agreements with seven countries:Austria, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the USA and Switzerland. Ireland also entered into a bilateral understanding with Québec on 1 October 1994. All of these agreements are currently in operation. The main purpose of these agreements is to protect the social security pension rights of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The figures requested are as follows: Year Appeal 2001 15,961 2002 15,017 2003 15,224 2004 14,083 The decrease in the overall number of appeals over the period is due largely to the reduction in the number of appeals under the Department's unemployment schemes.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: There are 15,503 families currently in receipt of the supplement. The number of persons who applied for family income supplement in the year to December 2004 was 21,020, which represents a substantial increase on 2003 when the numbers of applications received was 18,164. The number received in 2002 was 17,868. The number of persons in receipt of family income supplement at 31 December 2004...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department administers a number of child income support measures, including child benefit which delivers a standard rate of payment in respect of all children in a family regardless of income levels or employment status. Child benefit supports all children but delivers proportionately more assistance to those on low incomes and with larger families. It is not intended primarily to meet...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 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 the payment of a rent supplement to assist eligible people who are unable to provide for their immediate accommodation needs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. Details of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: In recent years, the Government has introduced a number of specific measures which benefit widows and widowers. With regard to those who are over 66 years of age, the Government had committed to bringing their rate of payment into line with that of the old age contributory pension. This was achieved through a series of special increases in recent budgets and the process was completed in...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned had her entitlement to lone parent allowance terminated on the grounds of cohabitation. It is a condition for the receipt of lone parent allowance that the lone parent is not cohabiting, that is, living with someone as husband and wife. She subsequently appealed this decision to the social welfare appeals office. Following an oral hearing, the appeals officer upheld the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: As the Deputy is aware from my replies to previous Parliamentary Questions regarding this case, a significant overpayment of diet supplement arose because the person concerned did not notify the community welfare officer that he had commenced employment. The Dublin/mid-Leinster area of the Health Service Executive has advised that following protracted negotiations with the person concerned, a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The Dublin/mid-Leinster area of the Health Service Executive has advised that it referred the person concerned to her local authority for an assessment of her housing needs, following her application for rent supplement. The local authority advised the executive subsequently that the person concerned was assessed as not being in need of housing, as she has the option of living in the family...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 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 wives benefit in 1992. The limit, which applied only to new claims after August 1992, is currently €12,697.38 a year — gross earnings. Where earnings are in excess of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Section 47(4) of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 1993 sets out the circumstances under which a person may be disqualified from entitlement to unemployment benefit. One such circumstance relates to customers who receive a redundancy lump sum payment, which, in accordance with the terms of the Redundancy Payment Acts, is in excess of €19,046.07. In accordance with this legislation, any...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Jun 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department provides people receiving social welfare payments with a choice of payment options. People who choose payment of pensions by electronic fund transfer — EFT — to personal bank accounts do so on a voluntary basis. The majority of those who opt for the EFT facility do so at the start of their claim and are paid on a regular weekly basis once their claim is put into payment. At...