Results 4,001-4,020 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

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

Séamus Brennan: Diet supplements are provided through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Any person who is receiving a social welfare or Health Service Executive payment, who has been prescribed a special diet as a result of a specified medical condition and who is unable to provide for his or her...

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

Séamus Brennan: Family income supplement is designed to provide cash support for employees on low earnings with families. This preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might otherwise only be marginally better off than if he or she were claiming other social welfare payments. The number of persons currently in receipt of family income supplement is 15,040 with an...

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

Séamus Brennan: The report, to which the Deputy refers is, I understand, the Community Platform's mid-term review of the Sustaining Progress agreement. As Minister with overall responsibility for the national action plan against poverty and social exclusion, I could not agree with the platform's assertion that national partnership is not meeting the needs of people living in poverty. The Deputy will be aware...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: There are a number of schemes within the social welfare system to assist families in dealing with death and funeral expenses. A bereavement grant based on PRSI contributions is a payment designed to assist families in dealing with death and funeral expenses. It amounts to €635 and is paid by cheque to the husband, wife, next of kin or personal representative of the deceased or to the person...

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

Séamus Brennan: The Deputy is referring to the EU Commission's second annual report on equality between men and women, which was published last February. At the spring European Council in March 2003, EU Heads of State and Government asked the Commission to report annually on developments towards gender equality. This second report covers a range of issues including gender gaps in employment, part-time...

Written Answers — Child Care Policy: Child Care Policy (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 103, 108 and 138 together. Parents have the main responsibility for the care of their children. They may need to get others to share the caring role if a parent wishes to take up employment to maintain or improve their standard of living. This may be particularly necessary for lone parents. Formal child care arrangements, responsibility for the development of...

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

Séamus Brennan: The Deputy is referring to the target in the national action plan against poverty and social exclusion to increase the lowest social welfare rates to €150 per week — in 2002 terms — by 2007 and to set the appropriate equivalence level of child income support — child benefit and child dependant allowances combined — at 33% to 35% of the adult rates. We remain on target to achieve...

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

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 105, 151, 156 and 159 together. In the context of developing my Department's payment delivery systems, there are a number of important elements which must be taken into account. One of these is the fact that a wider range of payment options is now available which provides convenient and flexible access to payments for customers. It is Government policy to...

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

Séamus Brennan: The overall objectives behind the provision of child income support are twofold, namely, to bring about an improvement in the relative overall position of families with children compared with single persons or childless couples — horizontal equity — and to eliminate child poverty. While a number of social welfare financial supports have an additional child-rearing dimension, for example,...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107, 142, 147, 157 and 161 together. Lone parents represent a significant proportion of the working age group, after people with disabilities and the unemployed, receiving weekly social welfare payments. At the end of 2004 there were 79,181 recipients of the one parent family payment, up from 58,960 in 1997. There are, in addition, 13,125 lone parents with...

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

Séamus Brennan: The current national action plan against poverty and social exclusion was submitted to the European Union in July 2003 and covers the period up to 2005. It sets out the commitments made by Ireland to meet the Lisbon pledge "to make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty" by 2010. The plan incorporates the strategic approach to tackling poverty which was set out in the earlier...

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

Séamus Brennan: The elimination of poverty is a key objective of the Government which is committed to achieving the range of targets which are set down in the revised national anti-poverty strategy, NAPS, and the national action plan against poverty and social exclusion. The principal mechanism available to my Department for addressing poverty levels in low income families is through the social welfare...

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

Séamus Brennan: The Deputy is referring to the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre report card Number 6 on child poverty in rich countries 2005. The report shows that, Ireland, at 15.7% based on 2000 data, had the fifth highest relative child poverty rate among 26 OECD countries. There have been major increases in average incomes and employment rates in recent years and a high level of growth in two income...

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

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 115, 160 and 162 together. My Department provides a range of payments to families with children. These include child benefit, child dependant allowances and family income supplement. Child benefit is a non-means tested payment made to families regardless of employment status. It, therefore, supports all children but delivers proportionately more assistance to...

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

Séamus Brennan: My Department issues over 500,000 cheques every month and, as a general rule, there are no problems regarding the encashment of cheques. On rare occasions, it has happened that people have experienced difficulty in cashing their cheques because of inadequate identification. Any such problems are resolved on a case by case basis. Cheques are but one of a range of payment methods offered to...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The introduction of a personal advocacy service aimed specifically at people with disabilities is provided for in the Comhairle (Amendment) Bill 2004, which was published last September in conjunction with the Disability Bill 2004, and outline sectoral plans and as part of the Government's national disability strategy. The Comhairle (Amendment) Bill 2004 is intended to confer additional and...

Written Answers — Public Service Cards: Public Service Cards (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department and the Department of Finance are managing a programme of work to develop a framework within which public service cards could be deployed. Following approval from Government in June 2004, this programme of work was commenced to develop a standards based framework for public service cards using the personal public service number, PPSN, as a unique identifier. The programme is...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department operates a number of schemes which provide income support to persons who are unfit to work because of illness. These payments include, for example, the disability benefit and invalidity pension schemes and the means tested disability allowance. In addition, there is a further range of benefits available under the occupational injury benefits scheme for people who have been...

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

Séamus Brennan: The back to education allowance, BTEA, is a second chance education opportunities programme designed to encourage and to facilitate people on certain social welfare payments to improve their skills and qualifications. The objective is to increase their prospects of returning to the active work force and reduce the risk of them becoming dependent on social welfare on a long-term basis. The...

Written Answers — Family Rights: Family Rights (19 Apr 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Families and family life in Ireland have been undergoing profound change in recent decades, which includes the significant growth in the proportion of families headed by lone parents. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitution, in inviting submissions, has specifically stated that account will be taken of these developments in their consideration of the possible need for changes to...