Results 7,021-7,040 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: Deputy O'Dea's record is, let us say, not the most shining given that 330,000 jobs were lost on his watch.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The increases we are talking about are as a result of the increase in the minimum wage, the more generous means test on the jobseeker's transitional payment and the increase in fuel allowance of €2.50 a week.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: But these are all facts.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pension Provisions (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The State contributory pension is based on contributions paid and credited over the course of a working life and is not subject to means testing. I increased the maximum weekly personal rate in the recent budget to €233.30, with proportionate increases for qualified adults. There were more than 360,000 recipients of that pension at the end of last year, with expenditure in 2016 now...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: Deputy O'Dea quoted the 58% deprivation rate for lone parents in 2014. That is down from 63% in the previous survey.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The figure the Deputy quoted is a drop from what was there previously-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: -----because in fact we are putting extra resources into lone parents and we are particularly providing for the family income supplement, which means that where a lone parent goes to work, they are getting a top-up in respect of each of their children. Second, in 2015 I brought in the back to work family dividend, which means a lone parent holds on to their €29.80 per week in terms...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: I extend my congratulations to the new Clerk of the Dáil, Mr. Peter Finnegan, and wish him well in the job. In budget 2016, I introduced a number of measures that benefit lone parents. These include a 75% Christmas bonus, which equates to a payment of just over €163 for a lone parent with one child. Lone parents will benefit from the €5 increase in the monthly rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Support Services (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: This Government recognises the importance of increasing participation in employment on a voluntary basis for persons with a disability, including young persons. It is committed to removing any barriers that remain which prevent persons with disabilities from participating in activation programmes and employment. To this end, the Department provides a wide range of work related supports for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The Chief Appeals Officer assures me that, although significant progress has been made in reducing appeal processing times in recent years, continued improvement in this area remains a priority. The unprecedented increase in appeal receipts since 2009 placed considerable pressure on the appeals office and impacted adversely on processing times. The number of appeals received increased...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Administration (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as the retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2015 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure of almost €89 million on the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The key achievement of this Government has been to stabilise the nation’s finances, to increase employment and to achieve economic growth. This endeavour is well underway and we are already reaping the benefits of these policies, including the ability to invest in the improvements I have announced over the last two years in welfare supports. One of the key Government’s...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Flood Prevention Measures (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is the lead Department for severe weather emergencies and the Office of Public Works has responsibility for capital flood relief activities. However, the Department of Social Protection has an important role to play in assisting households in the immediate aftermath of emergency events such as flooding The Department has...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The Department monitors all of the social welfare schemes that it administers, including the one-parent family payment scheme, on an on-going basis. The Department has published a social impact assessment of the main social welfare and tax measures of Budget 2016. The assessment found that employed lone parents experienced an increase of 2% in their household income while unemployed lone...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Poverty Data (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The CSO published the 2014 release of the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) in November 2015. The key measure of poverty from a policy perspective is consistent poverty - the combination of at-risk-of-poverty and basic deprivation - as this is the basis for the national social target for poverty reduction. The rate of consistent poverty in 2014 was 8%, a slight though not...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The CSO Survey on Income and living Conditions for 2014 shows that 11.2 per cent of children were in consistent poverty, a slight but not statistically significant decrease on the 2013 rate of 11.7 per cent. In the period since the economic crisis (2009-2014), the average rate of child poverty was 9.9 per cent. This compares with an average rate of 8.7 per cent in the years preceding the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: Reduced rates for young jobseeker’s allowance (JA) recipients were first introduced in 2009. These measures were further extended in 2014. Reduced JA rates for jobseeker’s who are under 26 years of age is a targeted measure aimed at protecting young people from welfare dependency. It aims to incentivise young jobseeker’s allowance recipients to avail of education and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 61,000 people for which the Government has provided approximately €267 million for 2016. In view of the reduction of supply in the private rented market and increasing rents at this time, the Department has implemented a policy approach that allows for flexibility in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: In November my colleague the Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD, published a the report, "A Study on the Prevalence of Zero Hours Contracts among Irish Employers and their Impact on Employees" by the University of Limerick. The independent study commissioned by Minister Nash and carried out by Dr Michelle O’Sullivan follows a commitment to undertake such an examination...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Bereavement Grant (13 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The overall concern in recent Budgets has been to protect primary social welfare rates. Abolishing the bereavement grant provided an annual saving of €22 million. This allowed the Department to protect other more fundamental social welfare payments such as the State pension. Accordingly, I have no plans to reinstate the bereavement grant There are a range of supports available for...