Results 4,281-4,300 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The current Chairperson of the Pensions Board was appointed by one of my predecessors, the late Seamus Brennan, in January 2006, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by paragraph 2 (as amended by section 50 of the Pensions (Amendment) Act, 2002 (No.18 of 2002)) of the First Schedule to the Pensions Act, 1990 (No. 25 of 1990), as he was considered to be a most suitable person for the...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Family Income Supplement (FIS) provides income support for employees on low earnings with families. This preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were claiming other social welfare payments. FIS is calculated on the basis of 60% of the difference between the income limit for the family size...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of mortgage interest. The purpose of the mortgage interest supplement is to provide short term support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists with the interest...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Family Support Agency provides funding through a Scheme of Grants to voluntary and community organisations providing marriage and relationship counselling, marriage preparation courses, child counselling in relation to parental separation and bereavement counselling and support on the death of a family member. The focus of the scheme is on the development of support services in the...

Written Answers — Smarter Travel Policy: Smarter Travel Policy (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department operates a travel pass scheme encouraging staff members to use public transport in lieu of car transport thus helping to reduce the level of carbon emissions. Official travel by staff members is continually monitored to ensure that such travel is kept to the minimum commensurate with the need for them to effectively perform their functions. Where feasible, staff members use...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) and Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) schemes are administered by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE) on behalf of the Department Social and Family Affairs. The operational arrangements for the processing of applications and the payment to qualifying individuals, is a matter for the respective...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department of Social and Family Affairs does not operate a wage subsidy scheme for employers but it provides a range of employment supports available to persons in receipt of welfare payments. These are designed to assist and facilitate people on social welfare payments to return to the active labour force. The BTWA scheme is designed to assist the long-term unemployed, lone parents,...

Written Answers — Child Support: Child Support (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 352 and 356 together. The Early Childcare Supplement [ECS] is administered by the Department of Social and Family Affairs on behalf of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The total expenditure on the ECS in 2008 was €477.2m. The expenditure on ECS in 2008 for non-resident children was approximately €4.5m. Up to the end of 2008, ECS...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: In order to qualify for a state pension contributory a person must satisfy a number of qualifying conditions which include commencing insurable employment at least 10 years before pension age, payment of a minimum of 260 qualifying contributions and achieving a yearly average of at least 10 qualifying contributions, paid or credited, over their working life. To determine the yearly average a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The person concerned applied for a jobseeker's benefit payment on 22 December 2008. His social insurance contribution records for years 2006 and 2007 are incomplete and are currently being investigated. On completion of enquiries a decision will be made as soon as possible and he will be notified of the outcome. In the meantime, his Local Office has contacted him regarding a possible...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The PPS Number is a unique identifier for access to services provided by Government Departments and other public bodies. PPS Numbers are issued following a controlled allocation procedure to ensure that a person receives only one number and that the number is allocated on foot of information that is accurate and verified. Proof and evidence of identity is a vital element of the registration...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Offices: Social Welfare Offices (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department recently undertook a review of the staffing levels in Local Offices due to the continued increased number of claims for jobseeker's payments. One additional post, at Clerical Officer level, is to be assigned to Ballina Local Office. Arrangements are in train to assign one Clerical Officer to the Ballina office.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Non-EU nationals living in Ireland are entitled to work here provided they have the appropriate visa. Where a person employed on a work permit loses his/her job they may qualify for a jobseeker's payment for the unexpired period of the work permit. In all cases, non-EU nationals who qualify for a jobseeker's payment must satisfy all the conditions of the schemes. In this respect, they are...

Written Answers — Ministerial Travel: Ministerial Travel (17 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Much careful consideration is given to determining the Ministerial programmes for St. Patrick's Day to ensure that Ireland's economic, trade, social and cultural interests are effectively represented and promoted. In 2008, the then Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Martin Cullen attended the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Atlanta, United States of America. The total cost of the...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (12 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 164 and 172 together. The pension rights of scheme members are protected through trust law and by provision in the Pensions Act 1990 as amended. Defined benefit pension schemes are required to comply with the funding standard provision set out in the Pensions Act. This funding standard requires defined benefit pension schemes to maintain sufficient assets to...

Written Answers — National Disability Strategy: National Disability Strategy (12 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: In line with the provisions of the Disability Act 2005, the National Disability Strategy and Towards 2016, and as reflected in the various Departmental Sectoral Plans published in 2006, the continued development of services for people with disabilities to ensure their financial security as well as their maximum participation in society is a key goal for the Government. Given that the...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (12 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department received 370 requests in 2007 and 485 requests in 2008, under the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003. A monthly breakdown for these years is contained in the accompanying tables. The majority of refusals involve cases where the records requested do not exist, the records relate to a third party, or the requestor sought the identity of a person who reported suspected...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme provides for the payment of rent supplement to eligible people whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs. Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive. Rent supplement is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent,...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (12 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Jobseekers allowance is a means tested payment made to those who fulfill certain conditions which includes that the person is available for work, looking for work and satisfies a means test. The means of a self-employed person would be taken as the net profit that they will earn in the coming 12 months. While their income from the previous twelve months is used as an indication in estimating...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (12 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 170 together. The amounts received in Employer's and Employee's PRSI in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 are laid out in the following table. The figures for 2008 are provisional at this time. People who are self-employed also pay PRSI contributions. The relevant total amounts received are also included in the table, for completeness. PRSI Receipts...