Results 5,781-5,800 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (4 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The living alone increase is an additional payment of â¬7.70 per week made to people aged 66 years or over who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments and who are living alone. It is also available to people who are under 66 years of age who are living alone and receiving payments under one of a number of invalidity type schemes. The payment was last increased in 1996. The policy...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (4 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned originally applied for Disability Allowance on 19 February 2008. She was assessed with weekly means of â¬383.28 based on her spouse's earnings, derived as follows: Gross weekly pay year to date (per payslip): â¬744.33; less PRSI, Union & Superannuation â â¬45.51; insurable Employment Disregard â â¬60.00; total â â¬638.82; weekly Means @â¬0.60 per â¬1 â...
- Written Answers — Departmental Projects: Departmental Projects (4 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: There are currently no pilot schemes or pilot projects being undertaken by the Department currently. I can further confirm that the Department has no plans at present to engage in any pilot schemes or projects.
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (4 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Social welfare legislation requires that people must claim their entitlements within a specified period from the date on which their entitlement arises. The prescribed time for making a claim is specified in Article 102 (c) of Statutory Instrument 417 of 1994. In the case of one-parent family payment, the prescribed time for making a claim is within 3 months of the date of entitlement....
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (4 Jun 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 288 and 289 together. The social welfare appeals system is quasi-judicial and the procedures involved are, by virtue of that fact, designed to ensure that every appellant gets full and satisfactory consideration. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that oral hearings are granted at the discretion of the Appeals Officer usually in circumstances...
- Written Answers — Education Schemes: Education Schemes (29 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The school meals programme gives funding towards provision of food services for disadvantaged school children through two schemes. The first is the long-standing statutory urban school meals scheme, which is operated by local authorities and part-financed by the Department. The second is the school meals local projects scheme through which funding is provided by the Department to...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: There has been no change in the assessment of farm income for the purpose of the farm assist scheme. However, since 26 September 2007 there has been a change in the method of assessment of earnings from insurable employment for the jobseeker's allowance scheme and some farm assist claimants who are also in insurable employment can benefit under this new assessment. Under the new assessment...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The average processing times for applications for jobseeker's benefit in April 2008 was 2.61 weeks and for jobseeker's allowance was 4.59 weeks. The Department is committed to providing a quality customer service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed and that decisions on entitlement are issued as expeditiously as possible having regard to the eligibility conditions that apply. These conditions vary from scheme to scheme and may involve, among other things, the need to establish the customer's social insurance record, verify medical incapacity for work, establish a...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Claims for State Pension (Contributory) and State Pension (Transition) are now fully processed within three weeks of receipt of the applications where all information is available. Average processing times for all claims now stand at less than 8 weeks for a State Pension (Contributory) and 5 weeks for State Pension (Transition). The Department has commenced claim initiation on the State...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (29 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 92 together. The BTEA scheme is a second chance education opportunity designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third level education. It encourages and facilitates people on certain social welfare payments to improve their skills and qualifications and, therefore, their prospects of returning to the active work force. The...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (28 May 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 — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (28 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: One of the fundamental qualifying conditions for carer's allowance, carer's benefit and the respite care grant is that the person be providing full-time care and attention to a person who needs such care. The number of hours a person may engage in employment, self employment, training or education outside the home and still be considered to be providing full-time care and attention for the...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (28 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The person concerned applied for Disability Allowance on 3 July 2007. He was awarded Disability Allowance from 11 July 2007 at a personal rate of â¬43.30 per week as he was assessed with means of â¬144.92 per week from an Incapacity Benefit Claim from the United Kingdom (UK). His claim was reviewed in February 2008 and he was awarded an increase in his personal rate to â¬60.80 per week...
- Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (28 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Ireland has a bilateral Agreement on social security with Canada and it came into force on 1st January 1992. The main purpose of the agreement is to protect the social security pension rights of people who have worked in Ireland and who have worked and/or resided in Canada. The agreement also deals with the social security status of workers who are sent on temporary assignments from Ireland...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (28 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: Responsibility forhomeless persons under 18 years of age lies with the Health Service Executive under the Child Care Act, 1991. While supplementary welfare allowance is not generally paid to persons under 18 years, payment may be made to young people who have left home for valid reasons and who are not being maintained by their family but who have the ability to live independently and where...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 May 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 Code: Social Welfare Code (27 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA), which is administered on behalf of the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of a rent supplement to assist eligible people who are unable to provide for their immediate accommodation needs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The...
- Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 May 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 Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (27 May 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Department operates the free travel scheme which provides free travel on the main public and private transport services. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as CIE, Luas and over 90 private transport operators. In addition, free travel pass holders can travel for free on cross border journeys between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Since...