Results 10,781-10,800 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Legislation (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Section 50 of the Pensions Act was amended in 2009 and again in 2013. These changes were designed to spread the risk of scheme underfunding across all scheme members and beneficiaries in any consideration of an application by the trustees of the scheme to restructure scheme benefits. It is a matter for the trustees of a scheme, who are required under trust law to act in the best interests...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The family income supplement (FIS) is an in-work income support for employees on low earnings who have families and who otherwise might be at risk of financial poverty. FIS also preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were unemployed and claiming social welfare. At the end of March 2015, there...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Fundamentally, the main cause of rising rents is a lack of supply in the market which Government is addressing through the Construction 2020 Strategy and the Social Housing Strategy. The time-lag in terms of ramping up supply to match demand is fuelling an increase in rents, especially in Dublin and the major cities. Policy in relation to rent controls is a matter for my colleague, the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Self-employed workers may access social welfare supports by establishing eligibility to assistance-based payments such as jobseeker's allowance and disability allowance. In the case of jobseeker's allowance they can apply for the means-tested jobseeker's allowance if their business ceases or if they are on low income as a result of a downturn in demand for their services. In assessing means...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Universal Retirement Savings Group (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: In line with the Statement of Government Priorities, the Government recently decided to proceed with work to develop a roadmap for the introduction of a new, universal, supplementary workplace retirement saving scheme. The Universal Retirement Savings Group (URSG) has been established to consider the constituent factors involved in constructing an efficient and effective universal retirement...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Eligibility (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 800,000 people in Ireland in receipt of free travel at an annual cost of €77 million per annum. The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66 must be in receipt of a qualifying payment in order to qualify for the scheme. There is a provision for free travel passes for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Child benefit is the main policy instrument for assisting families with the costs of raising children. It is a universal payment paid in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years, or to the age of 18 who are in full-time education or who have a disability. It is paid to over 615,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children, at a cost of €1.9 billion. ...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Care Services Funding (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Child care policy, including the delivery and/or expansion of child care services, is the responsibility of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (D/CYA). The reforms to the OFP scheme have highlighted the need for additional child care supports to be available for lone parents who make the transition into employment. For that reason, the Department in conjunction with the D/CYA,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: There are approximately 70,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for in 2015. The Department recently published a review of the maximum rent limits, “Maximum Rent Limit Analysis and Findings” on www.welfare.ie. The review finds that increasing rent limits at this time could potentially add to further rental inflation...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Schemes (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees from the Live Register and those transitioning into employment. It provides employers with two levels of payment - €7,500 or €10,000 over two years - paid in monthly instalments provided the employment is maintained. The rate of payment depends on the length of time the person is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Data (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the Public Services Card (PSC) is to enable individuals to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of effort, while at the same time preserving their privacy to the maximum extent possible. The PSC is designed to replace other cards within the public sector such as the free travel pass and the social services card of this Department...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: There are approximately 70,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for in 2015. The Department recently published a review of the maximum rent limits, “Maximum Rent Limit Analysis and Findings” on www.welfare.ie. The review finds that increasing rent limits at this time could potentially add to further rental inflation...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Activation Projects (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: JobPath is the Government's new labour market activation service aimed specifically at long-term unemployed jobseekers and those new jobseekers most distant from the labour market, with the primary objective of assisting such persons to secure sustained full-time paid employment. It is not intended that people who are in receipt of a disability related income support payment, e.g. Disability...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The Government's primary strategy to reduce unemployment has been implemented through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. Despite the progress that has been made, the Government acknowledges that both youth unemployment and long-term unemployment remain unacceptably high....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Data (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The vast majority of people on social welfare are claiming the correct entitlement due to them. However, a small minority is not and a range of measures are employed by the Department to ensure that social welfare fraud and abuse is minimised and that its control activity is appropriately focused. Since 2011 there has been a number of significant measures undertaken which have enhanced the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Legislation (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Section 50 of the Pensions Act was amended in 2009 and again in 2013 to assist both the employers and the trustees of defined benefit pension schemes respond to the funding difficulties encountered by many defined benefit pension schemes. These changes provide for the sharing of the risk of scheme underfunding across all scheme members. It is a matter for the trustees of a scheme, who...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Housing Provision (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The primary responsibility for the provision of emergency accommodation for homeless persons rests with local authorities. The Department's role with regard to persons who are homeless is mainly income maintenance. Officers in the Department's Community Welfare Service work closely with those in the local authorities, including the Homeless Action Teams, in the provision of supports for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Activation Projects (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The Government recognises the importance of increasing participation in employment for persons with a disability and provides a wide range of income and work related supports through the Department of Social Protection. These supports play an important role in supporting increased participation in the labour force by people with disabilities. The Department provides a range of specific...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Fund Fees (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: The 2012 Report on Pension Charges undertaken by my Department, working with the Central Bank and the Pensions Authority, was the first comprehensive Government report on this subject. Since publication, a range of measures have been taken to deliver on the report's recommendations and work is ongoing in this regard. For example, in line with the recommendation that the implementation of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (6 May 2015)

Joan Burton: Work placement and training schemes such as community employment, Tús and Gateway provide useful measures in supporting jobseekers back into work. In total, these measures currently provide around 35,000 work placements supporting jobseekers and service provision nationally. Both Tús and Gateway use a random selection from the live register as part of the recruitment process....