Results 11,601-11,620 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Effective debt recovery is a key aspect of the Department’s control policy and it is seen as an integral part of the deterrent approach to social welfare fraud. It creates a climate where people who have been overpaid know that they have a responsibility to repay their debt and that the Department will take appropriate steps to obtain recovery. Once assessed with an overpayment, a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Eligibility (5 Mar 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 70,700 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015. I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand in the current market. The Department has put measures in place to ensure that the housing needs of rent supplement...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Administration (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: JobBridge has made significant progress since its introduction in July 2011. To date, over 37,700 internship placements having commenced, there are currently 6,140 interns on the programme and a further 1,129 positions are advertised on the JobBridge website. I have noted the contents of the National Youth Council’s recommendations relating to JobBridge. Given the high level of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Data Protection (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department has data sharing in place with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs for the provision of parent and child details to confirm eligibility for, and to support that Department in the financial management of the Afterschool Childcare Scheme and to monitor the take-up of available places. The Department also provides summary information to the Department of Children and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The NYCI report recommended that penalties should not apply in the case of jobseekers who refuse to participate in the new First Steps employment programme. I note that this recommendation was derived from a small study of eighty self-selected respondents of whom just seven participated in a follow up structured interview. Given its limitations this study cannot form the basis for any policy...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The number of persons with eligibility under one parent family payment (OFP), who were employed in community employment (CE) schemes in the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and to date in 2015 are as follows: Year Eligibility category - OFP 2012 5,048 2013 3,024 2014 2,241 2015 to date 980

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Before I introduced the reforms, the One Parent Family Payment was a passive scheme with limited engagement by the State with recipients. For many lone parents, most of whom are women, this has meant long-term social welfare dependency, associated poverty and social exclusion for them and their families. Social transfers have provided a hugely important buffer in reducing poverty....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The farm assist scheme provides support for farmers on low incomes and is similar to jobseeker’s allowance. Farm assist recipients retain the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance scheme such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation programmes. The 2015 Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure this year on the farm assist scheme of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: There are approximately 70,700 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015. The Department has undertaken a review of the maximum rent limits, involving a comprehensive analysis of information from various sources including the Private Residential Tenancies Board, leading property websites and the Central Statistics Office. Raising...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: A person who has been assessed with a social welfare overpayment has a liability to repay that money as they have been in receipt of money to which they were not entitled. I introduced legislation in 2012 which allows for a deduction of an amount up to 15% of the weekly personal rate of social welfare payable to a customer for the purposes of the recovery of an overpayment without the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Eligibility (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Questions relating to the residence of non-Irish nationals are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality. However, it is understood that any non EEA national who has worked here legally and consistently for a period of five years or more, is entitled to seek a letter from the Department of Justice and Equality granting permanent residence. Where a person is granted...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The final phase of the one-parent family payment (OFP) reforms will take place on 2 July, 2015, when the maximum age limit of the youngest child at which an OFP recipient’s payment ceases will be reduced to 7 years for all recipients. Approximately 30,200 OFP recipients will transition out of the OFP scheme on that day. These customers will be supported by my Department to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Data (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The total number of persons in receipt of jobseeker’s assistance (JA) and jobseeker’s benefit (JB) is collated on a monthly basis. I therefore attach for the Deputy’s information a tabular statement of the number of recipients of JA & JB at the end of each month during the period January 2011 to February 2015. Jobseeker’s Allowance Recipients...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: My Department does not operate waiting lists in respect of applications for means-tested social welfare payments. However, as of the end of January 2015, decisions were pending on 28,561 applications for means-tested social welfare payments. Details of these numbers of pending decisions, by scheme, are given in the tabular statement attached. Claims pending decisions for a means-tested scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The total amount of State pension non-contributory (SPNC) applications received for each year is as follows: YEAR TOTAL NUMBER OF SPNC APPLICATIONS RECEIVED 2010 9,835 2011 7,344* 2012 9,035 2013 9,429 2014 8,998 2015 (to end of January) 1,094*The data for 2011 is incomplete for new claims registered during the period April – July 2011 due to issues encountered in transitioning...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Waiting Times (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The average time taken to award a new claim is currently 12 weeks. Where a request is made for a review of a decision on a new claim or where a decision to disallow is appealed, this will take longer. The Department is committed to ensuring that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible and that backlogs in claims are kept to a minimum. Each scheme area is continuously monitored...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: In the response to the previous question submitted by the Deputy on behalf of the person concerned (PQ 2069-15), it was stated that an appointment had been arranged for 29 January 2015 for her to apply for a jobseeker’s allowance transition payment, as it had been established that this was the most appropriate path for her to pursue given her personal circumstances. She did not attend...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Payments (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: The person concerned has been in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance from this Department as a single person since 17 May 2012. Despite being in regular contact with his Intreo Centre he has not advised the office of any changes in his circumstances, nor has he submitted a claim for an adult dependant. The person concerned and his partner should furnish full details of their present...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Dental Services (5 Mar 2015)

Joan Burton: Qualification for treatment benefit is based solely on satisfying certain PRSI conditions which vary depending on the age of the person. In order to qualify the person concerned in this case would need to have paid at least 39 PRSI contributions at Class A/E/H or P since first starting work. The person concerned does not have the required number of contributions paid and as a result he does...