Results 5,441-5,460 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Data Protection: Data Protection (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The following data devices, owned by the Department, were reported stolen or lost to date in 2008 â Two Laptops â (1 house break-in, 1 office break-in); Two Desktops â Buncrana SWLO. None of these devices have been recovered. As all client data is held on central databases, no client data is held on the stolen computer desktops. Laptops can be used to access centrally stored client...
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Social Insurance Fund derives its income mainly from pay-related social insurance contributions from employers, employees and self employed workers. It provides insured contributors with both long-term pension benefits and short-term benefits such as unemployment and disability payments. The fund comprises a current account which is managed and controlled by the Minister for Social and...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) Scheme is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division (CWS) of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Applications for the allowance may be made between the beginning of June and the end of September each year. The Southern area of the HSE has advised that an application for BSCFA has recently been...
- Written Answers — Data Protection: Data Protection (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The laptop belonging to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) was reported missing in April 2007. On 1st of August, 2008 some 16 months after the laptop went missing, the Office of the C&AG informed the Department that the missing laptop contained a number of files used in connection with the audit of the Social Insurance Fund for 2004 and 2005. These files contained some...
- Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department's Management Services Unit has responsibility for carrying out staffing assessments for all the business areas in the Department including Local Offices. The Administrative Productivity Training (APT) method of work measurement is used to identify, measure and quantify workloads and determine staffing requirements for all clerical/administrative work. Based on the measurement,...
- Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (30 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Supplementary Welfare Allowance Section of the Department, comprising 15 posts relocated from Dublin to Sligo in July 2005, as part of the current programme of decentralisation. In addition, 3 posts from the Department's Staff Development Unit also relocated from Dublin to Sligo during 2006. While no further posts had relocated by the original deadline of December 2006, a number of...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department supports government policy which aims to facilitate the greater use of electronic payment systems in the economy in the interests of developing a world class payments environment in Ireland. Our payment strategy is designed to ensure that cost effective arrangements are in place for making payments to social welfare customers by using a range of payment options and to ensure...
- Written Answers — Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 227 and 228 together. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) provides assistance to people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. There are 53 independent companies nation-wide operating the service. Many voluntary and statutory bodies such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Community Welfare Service,...
- Written Answers — Combat Poverty Agency: Combat Poverty Agency (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department's 2008 Grant-In-Aid provision for the Combat Poverty Agency is â¬4.568m. The Agency's 2008 budget is broken down as follows; Administration and Accommodation â¬0.685m, Board and Staff â¬1.81m, Community Projects â¬0.913m, Communications â¬0.605m, Research â¬0.557m and other sundry expenditure provisions â¬0.085m. Sundry income amounts to â¬0.087m.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, an exceptional needs payment (ENP) may be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which the applicant is unable to meet out of his/her own resources. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. Each application is...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned applied for a jobseeker's allowance payment on 15 July 2008. His jobseeker's allowance claim was disallowed from 15 July 2008 on the grounds that his means exceeded the maximum amount payable in his case. He appealed the Deciding Officer's decision and his claim has been forwarded to a Social Welfare Inspector for further examination. On completion of inquiries a...
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: This case pertains to an individual who, being aged 64, working in Ireland, and in receipt of a UK Old Age Pension, is querying the PRSI Class at which she is liable to make contributions. As specified in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, Section 12 (1) (a), '. . . every person who, being over the age of 16 years and under pensionable age, is employed in any of the employments...
- Written Answers — Family Support Services: Family Support Services (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Family Support Agency has responsibility for the Family Mediation Service, a free, professional and confidential service for couples, married and non-married, who have decided to separate or divorce and who together want to negotiate the terms of their separation or divorce with the help of a trained mediator. Family mediation assists separating couples to look at the resources and...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The development of a National Carers' Strategy is a key Government commitment in both the national partnership agreement "Towards 2016" and the Programme for Government. An inter-departmental/agency working group is currently developing the strategy. The group is chaired by the Department of An Taoiseach with the secretariat provided by my Department. Developing the strategy involves a wide...
- Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The number of contributors in the social insurance system reached some 2,624,000 in 2006. Of these, 2,436,757 workers, or some 92.78% paid PRSI at Classes that normally attract a social insurance liability. These figures represent the most recently available end-of-year returns. The current PRSI ceiling for employees stands at â¬50,700 per annum â above which no social insurance...
- Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (25 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Since the commencement of the Decentralisation programme in my Department, quarterly returns have been submitted to the Central Decentralisation Unit within the Department of Finance detailing expenditure under the heading of non-property costs. Table 1 below sets out the expenditure incurred since 3 July 2008 for the locations to which my Department is committed under the programme of...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department does not categorise overpayments by reference to full time or part time working. Therefore the information requested by the deputy is not available.
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: This Government has shown an unparalleled commitment to improving the State pension. The rate of contributory pension has increased from â¬147.30 per week in 2002 to more than â¬223 per week in 2008 and the non-contributory pension has increased from â¬134 per week in 2002 to â¬212 per week this year. Together with improvements in other schemes, these increases have helped to reduce the...
- Written Answers — National Carers Strategy: National Carers Strategy (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1273 and 1356 together. The development of a National Carers' Strategy is a key Government commitment in both the national partnership agreement, Towards 2016, and the Agreed Programme for Government. A working group, chaired by the Department of An Taoiseach, is working on developing the strategy. My Department provides the secretariat to the working group...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Sep 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) Scheme is administered on behalf of the Department by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). Applications for the allowance may be made between the beginning of June and the end of September each year. The Dublin/Mid Leinster area of the HSE has advised that a payment for BSCFA was issued to the...