Results 10,741-10,760 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Leaders' Questions (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: After it finished wrecking the banks and the construction industry, we are getting the story of what happened on different nights in dribs and drabs.

Leaders' Questions (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The particular contribution of the Department in which the Deputy had the honour to serve was to cut the minimum wage by €1 an hour. The previous Government cut social welfare by €16 or €17 a week.

Leaders' Questions (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: We maintained the weekly rates and, as a consequence, the social welfare system in Ireland has had the largest reduction in poverty risk of almost any state in the European Union. For the information of the Deputy, our social welfare system is a strong system of support for people when they need it and helps people of working age get back to work. If the Deputy is suggesting that people...

Leaders' Questions (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The changes in debt reform are long overdue. Taking prison out of civil debt issues is a reform that has been required in the country since the foundation of the State and we will now introduce it. That is why so many organisations have welcomed that change. Fianna Fáil should welcome it. Were it true to the philosophy-----

Leaders' Questions (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: It is my objective, as Minister for Social Protection, as I have told the Deputy, to get as many people as possible back into work and thereby significantly improve their income and that of their households and to improve the life chances of any children they may have. The social welfare system in this country is strong and is built on social solidarity and a social contract. A lot of...

Leaders' Questions (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The most recent CSO figures show that, thankfully, a lot of people are going back to work, and the biggest way to improve any family's income is to go back to work. Recalling reductions in social welfare, I do not think people will ever forget that Fianna Fáil cut people's social welfare by €16 to €17 a week. That is its legacy, what it has to live with and what it has to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) is paid by employees, their employers and the self-employed for the sole purpose of funding social insurance benefits to provide pensions and other working age benefits to those who have established an entitlement. Prior to 2011 the health contribution paid by employees was collected along with PRSI. PRSI was separate to the health contribution and was...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The free travel scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by some 80 private operators in various parts of the country for those eligible under the scheme. There are currently in excess of 810,000 customers with direct eligibility with an annual allocation of €77 million. As regards routes with Public Service Obligation...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Bereavement Grant (7 May 2015)

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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Payments (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The disability allowance payment of the person in question has been re-instated with effect from 29 April 2015. First payment will be on 8 May 2015 and includes arrears due.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 17thDecember 2014. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought from the Department of Social Protection. These papers were received in the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 24th July 2013. The person in question was refused carer’s allowance on the grounds that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. The person in question was notified on the 21st of September 2013 of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Appeals (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The person concerned was requested to submit written confirmation of her current address to Maynooth Branch Office. On receipt of the requested documentation, her claim will be reviewed and she will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (7 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The reforms to the one-parent family payment aim to reduce long-term social welfare dependency among lone parents by providing them with access the Department’s range of education, training, and employment programmes, with a view to developing their skills set and assisting them into sustainable employment, whilst simultaneously acknowledging their specific caring responsibilities. ...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy answered his own question when he said that lone parents had a higher risk of poverty. Unfortunately, that is true for them and their children. My objective is to end that situation for lone parents and to move them out of the category of being at risk of poverty, and particularly to remove their children from that risk. This will be achieved by first giving them opportunities...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Social transfers have provided a hugely important buffer in reducing poverty. Expenditure on this scheme is estimated at €607 million in 2015 with almost 70,000 recipients. The problem is that despite a major investment in the past in respect of lone parents and their children, lone parents remain particularly at risk of poverty. The first phase of the one-parent family payment...

Other Questions: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Currently there are lone parents throughout the country calling into their local Intreo offices, which are provided by the Department of Social Protection, and looking at how they can significantly increase their income. In particular, if they move to 19.5 hours or more they will qualify for the family income supplement which, depending on the number of children they have, is an extremely...

Other Questions: Child Benefit Administration (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy and I share a common ground with regard to children or their parents who have problems with attending school, which is that those children and their parents should be encouraged in so far as possible to enable the child to attend school fully. However, the Deputy is in effect suggesting that a family which may already be on a low income or experiencing unemployment should have its...

Other Questions: Child Benefit Administration (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: I ask the Deputy to bear with me. We had a discussion earlier about the necessity of children's attendance at school. I refer to the small number of children who for some reason may not have had a proper breakfast before leaving home. Several agencies and the Department of Education and Skills are dealing with those issues. The Deputy is correct in his concern for the children, but I am...

Other Questions: Child Benefit Administration (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: -----because, in my view, the appropriate solution is for the teachers to work with those families and with the parents and, if appropriate, to involve the education and welfare service and Tusla. It is important that every child goes to school, but I would not suggest that the arbitrary cutting off of child benefit is necessarily the solution to the problem the Deputy has identified.