Results 5,661-5,680 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- National Carers' Strategy. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: That is not what I said. That is part of the consultative process.
- National Carers' Strategy. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: My Department is not the lead Department on this. The intention is to publish it later this year but there are other Departments involved. It is being led by the Department of the Taoiseach.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive. The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term income support to eligible tenants living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: One of the key issues for community welfare officers is that they have discretion. Discretion is paramount in this case as they are able to decide on the most appropriate action. However, they are asked to do so in consultation with the tenant and to ensure that whatever action is taken is in the best interest of the tenant.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: No. The community welfare officers have the discretion to determine what is in the best interest of the tenant. The regulations which are in existence since 1993 are being reviewed. Once that happens, my Department will review the guidelines for the community welfare officers which will guide them in regard to decisions they may want to take. Given that there are 63,000 recipients of the...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I think the standard is probably improving.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I understand the HSE can notify the local authority and the tenant, or prospective tenants, that rent supplement will not be paid for any accommodation that is substandard.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: It can be done.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The two Departments meet regularly on the issue. Given that â¬392 million is being spent on a scheme I accept it needs to be fully co-ordinated between the different Departments.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The appropriateness of benchmarking social welfare rates has been actively considered from time to time. In 2001, the social welfare benchmarking and indexation group was established to examine the issues involved in developing a benchmark for adequacy of adult and child social welfare payments. The group published its final report in September 2001 but did not achieve a consensus position...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Different approaches are recommended by different people. There is no reason to take the Vincentian approach rather than the CORI or benchmarking approach.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: When I met with Fr. Seán Healy a couple of weeks ago he spoke about 60% of the median, which is quite different from what the Vincentian Partnership was talking about.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: For many years people indicated that the greatest pressures of cost were on parents with child care costs for very young children. The Government introduced the early child care allowance to target that particular group. We also recognise that there are increased costs for people going back to school, which is why parents with children going to second level get more in the back-to-school...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The research of the Vincentian Partnership has indicated that lone pensioners are not as well off as couples.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The consistent poverty rate for couples has reduced to 2.2%, which is very encouraging. The decision was taken some years ago to increase the overall rates for everybody rather than just to examine the living alone allowance.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: All of those issues will be considered in the context of the budget.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 75 and 128 together. The national fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive, HSE, payments to meet the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. Fuel allowance is paid for 30 weeks from end-September to end-April. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal heating...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: It is obvious that the fuel prices are impacting on everybody; individuals at home, industry, community facilities and schools, and on the Irish economy, as it is on the world economy. The cost of fuel is to the forefront of the Government's discussions. I have had initial discussions with the Minister for Finance, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and the...
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: We must consider what is the best use for the money or whether we would be better off putting it into the general payments.
- Social Welfare Benefits. (25 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department is co-operating with a number of organisations, including Sustainable Energy Ireland, the Combat Poverty Agency and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, on making homes warmer. We are funding one of the projects in that regard. It is an action research project which obviously will help to feed into future policy. I have already mentioned the fuel...