Results 12,081-12,100 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: In order to qualify for a jobseeker’s payment, a person must meet certain conditions, including the requirement to be available for, capable of and genuinely seeking full-time work. A range of sanctions, including disqualification, closure or disallowance of the jobseeker claim, may be imposed where a client fails to meet the stated conditions. A jobseeker claim may be reviewed at any...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Bodies Reports (5 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Citizens Information Board (CIB) is the statutory body responsible for supporting the provision of information, advice (including money and budgeting advice service) and advocacy services on a wide range of public and social services. The Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 provided for the transfer of responsibility for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (4 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 28thJanuary 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: Social Welfare Code (4 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Under social welfare legislation, the social insurance status of spouses working in a family business can vary. Spouses who are engaged in a business partnership are treated as individual self-employed contributors who are each liable to pay social insurance contributions. In addition spouses, who assist in the business of their self-employed spouse /civil partner performing the same...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Payments (4 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The person concerned was notified on the 2ndFebruary 2015 that her domiciliary care allowance application was successful and that the allowance has been awarded from 1st December 2014. The first payment of the allowance, along with arrears due, will issue on 17thFebruary 2015.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (4 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The State pension contributory is a very valuable benefit and is the bedrock of the Irish pension system. Therefore, it is important to ensure that those qualifying have made a sustained contribution to the Social Insurance Fund over their working lives. To ensure that the individual can maximise their entitlement to a State pension, all contributions paid over their working life from when...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Paternal Leave Costs (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: While male employees are not entitled under Irish law to either paid or unpaid paternity leave, they may be entitled to parental leave. Parental leave entitles parents who qualify to take a period of up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave from employment, generally in respect of children aged up to eight years. There is no provision for a social insurance based payment for periods of parental leave,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, has decided to disallow the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused by a deciding officer (DO) on medical grounds. The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 30 July 2014. Further medical evidence was received in this case and a review was carried out by a DO. However, this review did not result in a revision of the original decision. The person concerned was notified...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Delays (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance (CA) from the person in question on 10 September 2014. There is no trace of an earlier application from the person in question. The person concerned was refused CA on the grounds that the medical conditions were not satisfied. She was notified of this decision on 18 December 2014, the reasons for it and of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Data (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection does not have estimates of the number of persons who are unemployed and who are not in receipt of jobseeker's allowance by virtue of the means test. Unemployment is officially measured by the Central Statistics Office on a quarterly basis in the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) and the latest estimated number of persons unemployed as of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Tús and Gateway are work placement initiatives which aim to provide short-term work opportunities for those who are unemployed and on the live register for more than a year with respect to Tús and two years for Gateway. The eligibility criteria for both initiatives are in line with the Government’s policies on focusing resources of maintaining the work readiness and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Question Nos. 186 and 187 together. Photography services are used, in conjunction with some press releases and conferences, to communicate the Department’s initiatives, schemes and services to customers and to the regional and national media. The total photography costs incurred by my Department for the period 1998 to 2010 are set out in the table below. No details...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Relations Contracts Data (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection did not hire public relations firms during the years 2007 to 2010, and accordingly, no costs were incurred. The Department’s Press Office generally deals with media queries and public relations matters.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 1 December 2014. 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: Domiciliary Care Allowance (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on 8 December 2014. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Following receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made by a Deciding Officer and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take 10 weeks to process an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Data (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: The only Working Age scheme with a specified differential rate of payment for those under 25 is Jobseekers’ Allowance. A breakdown of the number of recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance under the age of 25 as at 31 December 2014by age is detailed in the tabular statement. Number of Recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance aged under 25 as at 1December 2014. Age Number of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Applications (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: It was brought to the attention of the Department by the Deputy in Parliamentary Question No 63 of 27 November 2014 that the client concerned was seeking an increase in Rent Supplement as rent was being increased from €700 to €800 per month. Subsequently the client was requested to provide the Department with an up to date Rent Supplement application form and lease agreement...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Living Alone Allowance (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Expenditure on pensions is the largest block of expenditure in the Department, representing about a third of overall expenditure. Because of demographic changes the Department’s spending on older people is increasing year on year. Accordingly, the overall concern of the Government in Budget 2015 and previous Budgets has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Benefit Payments (3 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: Where a carer receives a paid public holiday for a day which is not a normal scheduled working day, s/he is not considered to have exceeded the 15 hour threshold for the purposes of qualifying for Carer’s Benefit. The Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation has responsibility for the operation of the legislation to which the deputy refers and has advised that in relation to...