Results 861-880 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned applied for one-parent family payment on 23 November 2006. She was requested to provide certain documentation when she made her application and again more recently. On receipt of the required documentation a decision will be made without delay and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome. In the meantime payment of jobseeker's benefit at the weekly rate of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The social welfare pension rights of those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties are protected by the home-maker's scheme which was introduced in and took effect from 1994. The scheme allows time spent caring for children up to 12 years of age or incapacitated adults to be disregarded when a person's social insurance record is being averaged for pension purposes. A maximum of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare Division of the Health Service Executive. Owing to a communications error, the appeal submitted on behalf of the person concerned last January was overlooked. This is very much regretted. The Health Service Executive has advised that it is preparing the required...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The earnings disregard for those in receipt of Disability Allowance engaging in rehabilitative employment has been increased on a number of occasions since the transfer of the then Disabled Person's Maintenance Allowance (DPMA) from the Health Boards to my Department as Disability Allowance in 1996. At that time the disregard was £35.20 (equivalent to €44.69), increased to £36.30...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The national fuel scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive (HSE) payments with meeting the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. Fuel allowances are paid for 29 weeks from end-September to mid-April and are included in the recipient's weekly payment during this period. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: Statistics on the numbers of appeals outstanding in each category of social welfare payment are not held on a county basis. On 31 March 2007 there were a total of 5,624 appeals outstanding on a national basis. Details are not maintained on a county basis. A breakdown of those cases by scheme type is given in the table. Work is in progress in these cases at the various stages of the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office against the decision to disallow an application for carers allowance. Having considered all the available evidence, including that adduced at an oral hearing, the Appeals Officer decided that the person being cared for was not so incapacitated as to require full time care and attention and disallowed the appeal. The person...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I have nothing further to add to the reply given on 3 April 2007. The oral appeal hearing will be held in this case as soon as it can be accommodated. The person concerned will be informed when arrangements have been made. Under social welfare legislation decisions in relation to claims must be made by Deciding Officers and Appeals Officers. These officers are statutorily appointed and I...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned applied for the household benefits package on 13 April, 2007. The claim was refused as the conditions of the scheme were not satisfied. A person in receipt of a non contributory pension who is under age 66, may qualify for the household benefits package if his/her late spouse was at the time of his/her death in receipt of the package. The person concerned is under age...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my department have any function in relation to decisions on individual claims. The Health Service Executive has been contacted and has confirmed that payment of rent supplement was suspended for the period...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 640 and 641 together. The person concerned had been in receipt of jobseeker's benefit at the weekly rate of €185.80. Her jobseeker's benefit exhausted on 15 February 2007. On receipt of a new claim a Deciding Officer, having examined her work pattern, determined that her normal level of employment was 3 days per week and that she has not sustained a loss...

Written Answers — PPS Numbers: PPS Numbers (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The numbers of PPS Numbers allocated to nationals of Romania and Bulgaria since the beginning of January 2007 are as follows: Bulgaria, 291; Romania, 6471. The Personal Public Service Number (PPS No.) is the unique personal identifier for transactions between individuals and Government Departments and other public bodies specified in the Social Welfare Acts. Approximately 310,000 PPS Numbers...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 336 and 352 together. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of my Department by the Community Welfare Division of the Health Service Executive. There is no record of the person concerned having applied for a Rent Supplement. He is currently in receipt of disability allowance at the maximum weekly...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The five statutory agencies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Pensions Board, the Combat Poverty Agency, the Citizens Information Board (formerly Comhairle), the Family Support Agency and the Social Welfare Tribunal. In addition the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of my Department. On 30th March 2007 I appointed Ms. Patricia Walshe and Ms. Laurie Cearr as members of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The telephone allowance is one component of the household benefits package which also comprises the electricity or gas allowance and the free television licence schemes. The telephone allowance provides a payment towards telephone service costs. It is applied as a cash credit on recipient's telephone bills. The value of the allowance is set at €20.41 per month (€24.70 including VAT) or...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: Under social welfare legislation, three diverse scenarios could apply to a couple working together with different consequences arising. Firstly, where spouses are actively engaged in a commercial activity as a business partnership, they are treated as individual self-employed contributors and are liable to social insurance contributions at PRSI Class S — providing that income is above the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned applied for State Pension (Contributory) in September 1997. According to the records of my Department, he has a total of 353 contributions recorded over the 36-year qualification period from 1953 to 5th April 1989, giving him a yearly average of 10 contributions. This entitles him to 50% of the maximum rate of pension, payable at the current rate of €104.70 per week....

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Question Nos. 341 and 342 together. In general, all contributions paid or credited, at the appropriate rate, on a person's social insurance record are assessed when his/her entitlement to a pension is being examined. There is a range of reduced rate and pro-rata pensions available to cater for people with less than complete insurance records, or where they have insurance...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (5 Apr 2007)

Séamus Brennan: State Pension (Non-Contributory) is a means tested payment and all income is assessable as means. This includes cash income, private pensions, foreign pensions, the value of any property (excluding the claimant's own home) and the value of any investments and capital which the claimant may have. If a pensioner is married or is living with someone as husband and wife, the means of the spouse...