Results 3,981-4,000 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (20 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Since I took up office, I have appointed on a contract basis for my term of office four non-established civil servants, a special adviser, Mr. Frank Lahiffe, a press adviser, Mr. Tom Rowley, a personal secretary, Ms Mary Browne, and a personal assistant, Mr. Bobby Holland. All four appointees are employed full-time. The salaries for these staff are as follows: special adviser, €83,707 —...

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (20 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Since I took up office, I have appointed on a contract basis for my term of office a special adviser, Mr. Frank Lahiffe, a press adviser, Mr. Tom Rowley, a personal secretary and a personal assistant. During 2004, the travel and subsistence costs of my special adviser and my press adviser were €1,378.77 and €150.00 respectively. There were no travel and subsistence costs in respect of my...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: In budget 2005, I announced the extension of the respite care grant scheme to all carers providing full-time care to an older person or a person with a disability, regardless of means and subject to certain qualifying conditions. The respite care grant will continue to be payable to recipients of carer's allowance, carer's benefit, prescribed relative allowance, constant attendance allowance...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The provision of speech and language therapy sessions to medical card holders is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive. The issue of the availability of such services in a particular area is a matter for the executive, and neither I nor my Department has any function in that regard. Payments towards the cost of these services would not come within the scope of the supplementary...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79 and 153 together. The principal eligibility conditions for receipt of the carer's allowance are that full-time care and attention is required and being provided and that the means test that applies is satisfied. The number of applicants refused payment as a proportion of claims received has declined in recent years arising from various improvements...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 123, 129 and 166 together. As the House will be aware, it is Government policy to encourage people to participate in occupational and private pension arrangements so that they can, when they retire, maintain their pre-retirement standard of living. To this end, a range of measures have been introduced over the last few years including personal retirement...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81, 96, 97, 120 and 139 together. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, payment of a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of rent or mortgage interest is available to assist eligible people who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source....

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Credited contributions have been an integral part of the social insurance system since its inception. Credits are awarded to protect the entitlements of insured workers by covering gaps in insurance wherein the worker is not in a position to pay PRSI. A common situation where credits are awarded is where a person is unemployed for a period and is in receipt of a payment. However, over time...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I understand that the Deputy is concerned, in particular, about the current arrangements applying in the case of old age pension where a landholder leases land or is otherwise in possession of land which is lying fallow or idle. Where land is let on short-term lettings such as the 11 month system, the income from such lettings is calculated as cash income for the purpose of the means...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 84 and 87 together. Since first taking office, the needs of older people have been a priority for this Government. We have sought, through significant increases in pensions and changes to other schemes, to improve the position of older people. Since 1997, we have increased pensions by up to €80.26 per week or 81%. During the same period, the increase in the...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The minimum funding standard, which applies to defined benefit, DB, occupational pension schemes under the Pensions Act 1990, is a discontinuance or wind-up standard. The standard is designed to ensure that, if a funded DB scheme winds up, there are sufficient assets available to meet the liabilities of the scheme at that point in time. In general, schemes must fully assess their position...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Fraud: Social Welfare Fraud (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: 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 pension order books, electronic or manual post draft issued to the customer's designated...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88, 109, 113, 116, 124, 318 and 339 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. The primary objective of the social welfare system is to provide income support and,...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The school meals programme operated by my Department gives funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes. The first is the long-standing statutory urban school meals scheme, currently operated by 36 local authorities. The Department jointly funds the food costs with these local authorities, which also manage and fund the administration of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I understand the Deputy is referring to a draft paper co-written by a researcher in the ESRI entitled Paying the Price for Reconciling Work and Family Life — comparing the wage penalty for mother's part-time work in Britain, Germany and the United States. I have no plans to commission research in this area but my Department will consider the issues raised in the context of its ongoing...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Late last year, I conducted a review of the measures announced in November 2003 to assess their impact on affected people. During the course of that review I listened to the views expressed by members of this House, by the social partners and by voluntary groups and others I have met since becoming Minister for Social and Family Affairs. On budget day, I announced new arrangements and the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. It is also available to carers and to people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments. It applies to travel within the State and cross-Border journeys between here and Northern Ireland. There have been a number of proposals for extending entitlement for free travel to...

Written Answers — Tax and Social Welfare Codes: Tax and Social Welfare Codes (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department liaises on an ongoing basis with the Revenue Commissioners at national and local level. Section 222(1) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 1998 provides specifically for the sharing of data between my Department and the Revenue Commissioners. The Revenue Commissioners provide my Department with details of individual earnings at the end of each year and with information...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The social insurance system provides income support to those who are incapable of work due to illness and who have made the required number of contributions to the social insurance fund. This support is provided primarily through the disability benefit and invalidity pension schemes. For those persons without the required number of social insurance contributions, income support for long-term...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: At the end of March 2005, there were 208,050 people receiving an old age contributory or retirement pension and 84,878 receiving an old age non-contributory pension. An actuarial review of the social insurance fund, undertaken on behalf of my Department in 2002, projected that the number of recipients of old age contributory and retirement pensions will increase to 255,000 by 2011 and 321,000...