Results 4,941-4,960 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I understand that the figures required by the Deputy relate to the number of Illness Benefit claims currently pending decision, the number currently in payment and comparative figures for 2006 and 2007. The figures are set out in the following table. Week Ending Claims Pending Decision Claims in Payment Friday 20-Oct-2006 3,357 66,501 Friday 19-Oct-2007 4,820 71,195 Friday 24-Oct-2008...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 147 together. The free travel and household benefits package are generally available to people living in the State, aged 66 years or over, who are in receipt of a social welfare type payment or who satisfy a means test. It is also available to people aged under 66 who are in receipt of certain disability payments or carer's allowance. The household...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 124, 139, 142 and 144 together. The following table outlines the numbers of claims decided, for each of the schemes concerned, in the first 10 months of 2006, 2007 and 2008: Claims decided to End October Year Scheme 2006 2007 2008 Disability allowance 15,607 15,784 18,430 Carer's Allowance 7,934 11,266 18,050 Carer's Benefit 2,299 2,785 2,850...

Written Answers — Child Support: Child Support (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Programme for Government 2007-2012 commits to: Amalgamating increases for qualified children (IQCs) and family income supplement (FIS) in order to develop a second tier of income support targeted at the poorest families; Continuing to increase child benefit; and Implementing significant improvements to the back to school clothing and footwear allowance and school meals programme. The...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 126 and 159 together. The Pensions Act provides for a Funding Standard which must be met on an ongoing basis by all defined benefit pension schemes. The Funding Standard requires that schemes maintain sufficient assets to enable them to discharge accrued liabilities in the event of a scheme winding up. Where schemes do not satisfy the Funding Standard the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: While the 2009 Estimates for the Department published on 14th October show a substantial increase over the 2008 estimates, they also include some measures to reduce expenditure. These measures have been kept to the absolute minimum and applied in a careful manner. In addition, the administrative budget provision for 2009 has been reduced by €4.3m. The Department is committed to achieving...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. Rent supplement is subject to a limit on the amount of rent that a person may incur. Rent limits are set at levels that enable the different eligible household types to secure and retain basic suitable rented accommodation, having regard to the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 448 together. Following changes announced in budget 2009 in relation to the length of time for which jobseeker's benefit will be paid, it is envisaged that in 2009 a weekly average of 2,400 people will be affected by the reduction in duration from 312 days to 234 days and 3,860 people in a full year. A weekly average of 6,750 people will be affected by...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 149 together. The Government discussion paper, "Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents," put forward proposals to tackle obstacles to employment for lone parents and other low income families. Under the proposals the lone parenthood category of payment would no longer exist. Instead, a new payment would be made to all parents (living alone or with a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The number of Child Benefit claims processed in 2008 to date and corresponding figures for 2007 and 2006 are detailed in the following table. Year to October Total received Total processed 2006 70,834 73,185 2007 76,756 74,887 2008 79,901 86,140 In addition to these claims, a further 84,000 claims for the extension of payment for children over 16 years of age were also processed in the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The question of the age thresholds which apply to Disability Allowance is one of a wide range of issues now being addressed in the context of a comprehensive review of the scheme which is being undertaken by the Department. This review is assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Disability Allowance scheme. It draws on new data being made available by the Central Statistics Office...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Significant improvements in child benefit have been made in recent years. For example, the rates of payment have been increased by between 185% and 200% in the period from 2001 to 2008, while total expenditure on the scheme has increased by almost 300% during the same period. However, in the context of the current economic circumstances it has been necessary for the Government to take a...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 and 137 together. In order to qualify for a social insurance payment, a person must fulfil all of the relevant conditions including the social insurance contribution conditions relating to the particular benefit being claimed. These contribution rules aim to preserve a balance between the level of contributions paid and the amount of benefits received, by...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Private sector pensions include occupational pension schemes; either defined benefit or defined contribution schemes, and personal pensions such as personal retirement savings accounts (PRSAs) and retired annuity contracts (RACs). Defined benefit pension schemes are required to hold sufficient assets to discharge their liabilities in the event that the scheme is wound up. These reserves are...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The back to education allowance (BTEA) Scheme is designed to help those in receipt of a social welfare payment who have not worked for some time to improve their employability and job-readiness by acquiring educational qualifications. It is a recognition of the special difficulties which such persons can face when attempting to gain a foothold in the labour market. The allowance is paid at a...

Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Programme for Government contains two commitments in relation to family supports. These are: Continue to fully resource the Family Support Agency and its programmes of Counselling, Family Resource Centres, etc. and Continue to support community groups, and other appropriate family support structures to promote better parenting. The Family Support Agency's (FSA) budget for 2008 amounts...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The social welfare related measures in Budget 2009 were subjected to a Poverty Impact Assessment in accordance with guidelines issued by the Office for Social Inclusion in March of this year. Poverty Impact Assessment is the process by which government departments, local authorities and State Agencies assess policies and programmes at design, implementation and review stages in relation to...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 143 and 155 together. Supplementary pension coverage for workers in general was 54% in the first quarter of 2008 and, for the key target group, those aged 30 years and over it, stood at 61%. Overall, the process was very successful with a wide range of submissions received from both representative organisations and members of the public. All the submissions...

Written Answers — Child Support: Child Support (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Combating poverty and building an inclusive society are key priorities for the Government. The overall goal of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion (NAPinclusion) introduced in February 2007 is to reduce the number of those experiencing consistent poverty to between 2 % and 4 % by 2012, with the aim of eliminating consistent poverty by 2016. These commitments and the social...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (11 Nov 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The purpose of the review of the social welfare code, which is currently being undertaken in the Department, is to examine its compatibility with the Equal Status Act, 2000 (as amended). The review is examining all the schemes and services provided for both in social welfare legislation and the administrative schemes operated by the Department. It will identify any instances of direct or...