Results 11,161-11,180 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: At the end of March 2014 there were approximately 4,200 carer’s allowance applications awaiting decision and approximately 345 carer’s benefit applications awaiting decision. The average time taken to award a new claim is currently 12 weeks for carer’s allowance, and 8 weeks for carer’s benefit. Where a request is made for a review of a decision on a new claim or...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Home-makers Scheme (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The homemaker’s scheme was introduced in 1994 to make qualification for State pension contributory (SPC) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. The scheme allows up to 20 years spent caring for children under 12 years of age, or incapacitated people, to be disregarded when a person’s social insurance record is being calculated for pension...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Fuel Scheme (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department provides assistance towards heating costs through the National Fuel Allowance Scheme each year. In 2014 this was paid to over 408,000 eligible households at a cost of approx. €218 million. The Department does not have a grant scheme that provides for the purchase of solid fuel stoves or ranges.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Postal Services (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: I am aware of the concerns that have been raised over the past few weeks in relation to the letters that issued from my Department. These concerns have been the subject of much discussion in the Dáil and the Seanad. In addition the Department is currently responding to various representations on the issue. The letters, which were issued to a small number of customers in receipt of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 12thMarch 2015, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Water Conservation Grant (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: A water conservation grant of €100 will be paid, beginning in September 2015, to households that have registered with Irish Water by 30 June 2015. The Department of Social Protection will pay the grant on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. A website, , has been established to provide information on the application process. This website will...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: Child benefit is a monthly universal payment made to families with children, which assists all parents with the cost associated with raising children. Child benefit is paid to around 616,000 families in respect of some 1.17 million children, with an estimated expenditure of around €1.9 billion in 2014. Child benefit as a “universal” payment is paid in respect of all...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Postal Services (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: Successive Governments and this one most notably, have consistently stated its commitment to maintaining the post office network as set out in the Programme for Government. It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong and viable company in a position to provide a high quality postal service and maintain a nationwide customer focussed network of post offices in the community. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned together with the relevant Departmental papers were received by that office on 23 March 2015 and that the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The purpose of section 4 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions Bill), 2015 is to clarify that eligibility for the carer’s benefit (CB), carer’s allowance (CA) and respite care grant (RCG) schemes is determined by a deciding officer on the basis of all of the information, including medical, available to him or her in relation to that claim. The information...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions Payments (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The information requested by the Deputy is not available in my Department. I am however informed that during the period specified there were 67,159 applications for state pensions of which 45,121 (67.2%) were awarded and 16,193 (24.1%) were disallowed and the remainder were either withdrawn by the applicant or are pending a decision. A breakdown of these figures is detailed in the tabular...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Payments (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The following table relates to the number of invalidity pension decisions that were awarded and disallowed from the start of January 2014 to the end of March 2015. (*)Please note that the statistics in relation to awarded cases include cases in the disallowed category which were subsequently awarded following a review or a successful appeal. While these statistics are not collated by...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Illness Benefit Payments (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The information requested is as follows: Illness benefit claims from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2015 Claims allowed Claims disallowed 203,155 76,319 For illness benefit statistical purposes - allowed/granted means claims awarded with a payment rate greater than zero. Claims that are disallowed/refused can come under a number of categories the most common being cases where a customer has no...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Eligibility (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2015 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €3.01 billion. Legislation provides that a person must satisfy the conditions of being available for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Data (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The following table relates to the number of disability allowance decisions that were awarded and disallowed from the start of January 2014 to the end of March 2015. (*)Please note that the statistics in relation to awarded cases include cases in the disallowed category which were subsequently awarded following a review or a successful appeal. While these statistics are not collated by...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Data (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The numbers of domiciliary care allowance (DCA) applications that were received, processed and awarded in 2014 and to date in 2015 are detailed in the table below. This information is not collated or held on a county basis, so it is not possible to provide the more detailed information requested. Table: Domiciliary Care Allowance applications Year Applications received Applications...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Data (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: At the end of 2014 Family Income Supplement (FIS) was awarded to 50,306 people and had been refused to 12,436. The County breakdown was as follows: Awards Refusals Carlow 859 220 Cavan 1,153 275 Clare 1,181 302 Cork 5,354 1,347 Donegal 2,307 473 Dublin 11,917 2,961 Galway 2,357 668 Kerry 1,433 342 Kildare 2,205 522 Kilkenny 798 204 Laois 870 217 Leitrim 339 90 Limerick 2,095...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Data (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The information requested by the Deputy in respect of a per-county breakdown of the number of farm assist claims awarded or refused from 1 January 2014 to date in 2015 is not available in my Department. I am however informed that there was an average of 9,854 monthly recipients during this period. A breakdown of the number of recipients in each of the months by county is detailed in the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 12thMarch 2015. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When these papers have been received from the Department, the case in question will be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Payments (15 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 107 together. The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The 2015 Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the jobseekers’ schemes of €3.01 billion. In line with other EU...