Results 941-960 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Family Income Supplement (FIS) payment provides income support for employees on low earnings with children. The manner in which the value of the payment is calculated is designed to preserve the financial incentive to take-up or remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might be only marginally better off on social welfare payments. Fundamental to the design of the FIS...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Family Income Supplement is designed to provide support for people with families who are on low earnings. This preserves the incentive for them to remain in employment in circumstances where they might only be marginally better off than if they were claiming other social welfare payments. FIS is a central element of a programme of reforms targeted specifically at addressing child poverty....

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Irish National Employment Action Plan (NEAP), adopted by the Government as its response to the European Employment Guidelines, included a commitment to a more systematic engagement of the Employment Services with the unemployed. The NEAP is operated jointly by this Department and FÁS. The National Employment Action Plan is a systematic process whereby persons in receipt of Jobseeker's...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Government believes that the current arrangements, whereby a lone parent can receive the One-Parent Family Payment until their child is 22, without any requirement for them to engage in employment, education or training, are not in the best interests of the recipient, their children or society. Despite improvements made to the One Parent Family Payment over the years, a large proportion...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: In Budget 2010, the weekly personal rates of welfare payments payable to persons aged under 66 were reduced by amounts ranging from 3.5% to 4.2%. This range of decrease also applied where both of a couple are claiming a payment in their own right. Where a recipient is claiming an increase for a qualified adult, the qualified adult increase was decreased by the same percentage as the personal...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Treatment Benefits are paid to insured persons from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). Although the SIF has operated a surplus since 1996, this position began to change in 2008 when expenditure had to be partially funded from the accumulated surplus. Expenditure continued to exceed PRSI and investment income to the Fund in 2009 and it is expected that the accumulated surplus will be completely...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: All one–parent family payment (OPFP) applicants are requested to provide details of the other parent of their child (ren). This information includes the name, address and whether he/she is in employment or receiving payments from the Department or the Health Service Executive (HSE). The applicant is also requested to submit long version birth certificates for each child. In a significant...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The statistical information requested by the Deputy is not readily available within the Department. Ireland has Bilateral Agreements on Social Security with the UK, Austria and Switzerland. All three agreements are non-effective in so far as they have been superseded by EU Legislation following the entry of both the UK and Austria to the EU and an agreement between Switzerland and the EU...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Department's facilitators work with social welfare recipients of working age, including people in receipt of jobseekers payments, people parenting alone, people in receipt of disability welfare payments and people providing care, to promote participation and social inclusion. Facilitators work with social welfare recipients to identify appropriate training or development programmes which...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 110 together. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act...

Written Answers — Humanitarian Assistance Scheme: Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: In recognition of the devastation suffered by people in many areas of the country as a result of the flooding from November 2009 onwards, the Government set up a humanitarian assistance scheme to provide income tested financial support to people who have suffered damages to their homes not covered by insurance. An initial sum of €10 million has been set aside by the Government for this...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Social welfare legislation does not currently provide for the reimbursement to the Department by insurance companies of social welfare payments deducted from awards of special damages in respect of loss of earnings. Officials in my Department have been examining the range of issues involved in relation to this matter. In view of the fact that any changes in this area would require extensive...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 402 together. Staff represented by the CPSE, PSEU and IMPACT have been engaged in industrial action in my Department for the past number of weeks. The main purpose of the Department is to provide income maintenance services to the public and consequently, the Department's staff are engaged in work that either directly delivers services to the public...

Written Answers — Civil Registration: Civil Registration (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 115 and 123 together. The provisions and procedures governing the registration of deaths in Ireland are contained in Part 5 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and these are as follows; Where a death occurs in the State it is the duty of a qualified informant (normally a relative of the deceased) to attend at a registrar's office and register the death on foot...

Written Answers — Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Money Advice and Budgeting Service (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: MABS assists people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems. The role of money advisers is to help clients to assess their financial situation, make a budget plan and deal with creditors. MABS is now dealing with increasingly complex debt situations in respect of clients who are presenting with multiple creditors and debts. It is important that people...

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Social Insurance Fund operates under the terms of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005. The Fund comprises a current account and an investment account. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs manages and controls the current account, while the Minister for Finance manages and controls the investment account. Benefits payments are paid from the current account. To the extent that...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The scheme primary purpose is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Family Income Supplement (FIS) is designed to provide support for people with families who are on low earnings, regardless of their occupation. Besides providing valuable financial support to such families, FIS preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where families might be only marginally better off than if they were claiming other social welfare payments. FIS...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: There is no restriction on any jobseeker taking up employment or training and returning to a Jobseekers payment when the work or training terminates provided they continue to satisfy the conditions for the Jobseeker scheme. Special arrangements have been put in place in local offices to ensure that these claims are fast-tracked into payment.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Feb 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Carer's allowance is a social assistance payment which provides income support to people who are providing certain older people or people with a disability with full time care and attention and whose incomes fall below a certain limit. Persons who are in receipt of carer's allowance also receive the annual respite care grant, the household benefits package and the free travel pass. Carer's...