Results 4,221-4,240 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I have a duty to protect pension funds that might include 100 or 1,000 recipients. Any Member of this House, or any other individual, might buy a property as their pension for the future. Someone who owns a shop and has no pension might decide that instead of giving their money to Irish Life or a pension fund to invest in equities and so on they would buy an apartment or a shop. However, in...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: There is no guarantee because these are private pension schemes. I know of no party that has recommended nationalising these schemes. We have a choice to make. Should we press the company so hard that it says, "To Hell with this, we are out of here", or should we take companies under the wing of the Pensions Board and, over a longer period, nurse them to a situation where they can get their...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Second Stage. (2 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I am pleased to introduce this, the second of two Bills intended to implement the €874 million social welfare package announced in budget 2005. The sum represents a €244 million, or almost a 40%, increase on the 2004 package of €630 million. It brings the projected level of social welfare expenditure in 2005 to more than €12.25 billion. That represents an increase of €1 billion, or...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Second Stage. (2 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The Social Welfare and Pensions Bill builds further on the development of social inclusion measures adopted by this Government over recent years. It safeguards the living standards of those who rely on social welfare income and other supports and prioritises the allocation of resources in favour of those most in need. My priority in this Bill is to make significant progress in delivering on...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: As I stated in my reply to a previous parliamentary question from the Deputy on 17 November 2004, the Southern Health Board advised that an application by the person concerned in September 2004 for an exceptional needs payment was refused on the grounds that he had been in a position to meet the funeral expenses from his own resources. He was unsuccessful in appealing this decision to the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: A person applying for unemployment benefit is required to make reasonable efforts to find employment. The person concerned applied for unemployment benefit from 29 July 2004. Her claim was disallowed as the deciding officer decided that she had not made sufficient efforts to find alternative employment. She appealed this decision. Following an oral hearing, an appeals officer upheld the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: My Department provides people receiving social welfare payments with a range 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 facility do so at the start of their claim and are paid on a regular weekly basis once their claim is put into payment. Customers who...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 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 assistance to eligible people whose means are insufficient to meet their basic needs. The Dublin and mid-Leinster region of the executive has advised that the people concerned had been in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance while...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 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 rent or mortgage interest supplements to assist eligible people who are unable to meet their housing costs from their own resources and do not have accommodation available to them from another source. Supplements are...

Written Answers — Official Engagements: Official Engagements (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I will be representing the Government at various ceremonies organised in Estonia as a celebration of St. Patrick's Day. During the visit, I will also have a bilateral meeting with the Estonian social affairs minister as well as meeting the chairman and vice-chairman of the Estonian Parliament social affairs committee. I will be based in Tallinn and will depart Ireland on Wednesday, 16 March...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 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 with reasonable accommodation costs of 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...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: An overpayment amounting to €1,619 occurred in the case of the person concerned because old age contributory pension and widower's contributory pension were paid concurrently for a period of ten weeks due to departmental error. It was decided, having regard to all of the circumstances of the case, to seek recovery. The code of practice for recovery of overpayments, SI 227 of 1996, requires...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: This person was in receipt of a reduced blind person's pension from August 1998. She was assessed with means of €63.59 per week derived from her husband's earnings. Following a review of her circumstances by the Department, the person's current means were assessed at €222.81 per week. These are derived from her spouse's earnings and a pension from the Western Health Board. As this amount...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: The effective dates for increases in social welfare weekly rates of payment are determined by reference to the payment weeks for each scheme, which may commence on different days of the week and by the fact that some schemes are paid in advance and some in arrears. Accordingly, the effective dates vary for different schemes and do not necessarily coincide with the first day of January. The...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Report Stage. (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I appreciate the Deputy's comments on SSIAs in respect of amendment No. 3. We drew up what is probably a practical way to deal with the matter and I appreciate the support of the House on it. The Deputy knows the answer in respect of amendment No. 4. However, I appreciate why he is raising the matter. This comes down to the source of any capital held by a pensioner, which can include savings...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Report Stage. (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I thank Deputies for their contributions on the amendment but I prefer to decline making the amendment on the understanding that I am happy to discuss the issue in the House whenever they wish. The one-parent family issue goes back to 1997 when the structure of the allowance was reorganised. A one-parent family can result from death, separation, divorce or being unmarried but I am determined...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Report Stage. (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Anti-fraud measures maintain the pressure since it takes funds from those who deserve them, and they must be available to them. I have made this point many times, especially in the area of lone parents. We cannot simply throw money at a social issue and hope that it salves our conscience. We must get behind the payment and see what the social issue is and whether we can solve the basic...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Report Stage. (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I have come some of the way and I gave very good reasons for that. Next September is the key date and between now and then we will make final decisions on it. That is the month of the application to go back to education, and in the meantime we will make some decisions in that regard. I will take account of what is being said here.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Report Stage. (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: Several Deputies spoke of reform. With a social security system the size of this, which accounts for one third of all Government spending and which has risen from €6 billion to €12 billion in four or five years at a time when unemployment is approximately 4%, and economic growth of 3%, 4% or 5% per annum is predicted, one must continue reform. That means simplifying, modernising and...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005: Report Stage. (1 Mar 2005)

Séamus Brennan: I will give the Deputy my advice. To introduce a standard rate and change the three to the one of which the Deputy speaks would mean that approximately 336,000 payments would be brought up to the higher rate, which is what the Deputy is advocating.