Results 4,401-4,420 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: It is not true to say, therefore, that throughout the country——

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: Certainly.

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy obviously did not listen to the answer where I indicated that from the summer onwards additional staff were put in.

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: An additional 31, followed by 115, many of whom have been put in place or are currently being put in place in the areas where there is greatest demand.

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I appreciate that nobody wants to be left waiting but nobody is left waiting for their money——

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: ——because the community welfare officer pays within the week.

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: It is wrong to give the impression to people losing their jobs or those who are applying that no matter where they go in the country, they will be waiting for weeks. There are thousands of workers in social welfare offices who are genuinely working flat out and our aim is to ensure average waiting times in all the offices are brought down.

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: We are doing that——

Departmental Staff. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: ——by ensuring we put in the staff as quickly as possible to meet the current demand from people who genuinely need that money.

Social Welfare Code. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The combined employee and employer social insurance contribution for general employees, paying class A PRSI, is 14.05%, excluding levies. Self-employed people, on the other hand, are only liable for PRSI at the class S rate of 3%. These much lower contributions give coverage towards long-term benefits such as State and widow's pension but do not enable a person to qualify for short-term...

Social Welfare Code. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: A large number of self-employed people are finding things very difficult. It is true that many self-employed people will not necessarily earn the same level of income this year as they did last year. This is particularly true in the case of those may have secured employment in a large contractor in the construction industry. For this reason, a degree of flexibility is provided. The...

Social Welfare Code. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The Department is aware that they do not apply in the case of many people. This is the reason flexibility may be shown. I will ensure that deciding officers are aware that they have such flexibility and may exercise it. The people in difficulty to whom the Deputy refers should also be aware that they may qualify for many supplementary benefits.

Social Welfare Code. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: I do not believe new guidelines are required because flexibility is available. We will, however, make the deciding officers aware that they may show flexibility.

Social Welfare Fraud. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The prevention of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system is an integral part of the day-to-day work of the Department. More than 600 staff at local, regional and national level are engaged on a full-time or part-time basis on work related to the control of fraud and abuse of the social welfare system. Last year, almost €476 million in social welfare payments was saved through fraud...

Social Welfare Fraud. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: It is not possible to indicate exactly how much each individual inspector was doing.

Social Welfare Fraud. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: The important issue is the amount of money saved through anti-fraud measures. As the Deputy indicated, we all agree on the importance of such measures. The Department has set significant new targets for this year. Savings of €476 million through anti-fraud measures are significant. The processing of applications by inspectors or other departmental staff is an anti-fraud measure in itself...

Social Welfare Fraud. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: When one sets targets at the beginning of the year it is not always possible at the end of the year to know what additional measures or initiatives would be needed or put in place. As I have already said, 600 staff are working on this, dealing with millions of claims and payments.

Social Welfare Fraud. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: They are doing more interviews with people to check if they are genuinely looking for work. They are working particularly on target groups, which are high risk groups. These groups include 18 to 25 year olds, people who were put on an employment action plan and are still on the live register and those who have been put on suspended payments, whom we are targeting in particular. Regarding...

Social Welfare Benefits. (3 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 supplement is to provide short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments for a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists only with the interest portion of the...

Social Welfare Benefits. (3 Feb 2009)

Mary Hanafin: It is far better to keep people in their homes and the fear that they might lose their home is an added worry when they lose their jobs. A number of people have responsibility for this matter. The financial institutions themselves must ensure they are willing to reschedule payments from people who find themselves in difficulty. We have flagged this as part of any recapitalisation...