Results 14,021-14,040 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal from the estate of the person concerned relating to an overpayment of widow’s non-contributory pension was referred to an Appeals Officer who decided to hold an oral hearing in this case. The oral hearing was scheduled for the 27thAugust 2014. At the request of the Department this oral hearing was postponed as the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The client is in receipt of their full entitlement to Rent Supplement based on their personal circumstances and location.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) scheme is a second chance education opportunity scheme designed to remove barriers to participate in second and third level education by enabling those who fulfil the eligibility criteria to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course. A person wishing to pursue a course of study under the BTEA scheme will have...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals (17 Sep 2014)

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: Pension Provisions (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection funds the Community Employment (CE) Schemes under the following four headings: - Participant Allowances; - Material Costs (running costs/overheads/insurance, etc.); - Training Costs; - Supervision Costs. There are no manager posts under Community Employment and the Deputy may be referring to the supervisory funding allocated to CE Sponsoring...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Exceptional Needs Payment Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department has no record of having received an application for an exceptional needs payment from this client.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 3rdSeptember 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 appeal in question will be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 24th July 2014. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Upon receipt of this opinion, a decision will be made and notified to the person concerned. It can currently take over 10 weeks to process an application for DCA.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: There is no overarching definition of the family, whether immediate or otherwise, that is used for the purposes of the social welfare code. Social welfare entitlements are not based on family relationships, but are determined by reference to the circumstances of the claimant, the composition of the household in which the claimant resides and the maintenance relationships between the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on the 21stMay 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 Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Self-employed persons are liable for PRSI at the class S rate of 4% which entitles them to access long-term benefits such as State pension (contributory) and widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's pension (contributory). Self-employed workers may access social welfare supports by establishing eligibility to assistance-based payments such as jobseeker’s allowance and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Payments (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The national fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare with meeting the cost of their heating needs during the winter season. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person's normal heating expenses. It is not intended to meet those costs in full. Fuel allowance is currently paid at €20 per week during the winter season. Some 410,000 customers...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pensions Data (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Table 1 shows the number of claims received, awarded and disallowed in the period requested. Unfortunately, it is not possible to identify, of the number awarded, how many were awarded in the first instance and how many were awarded following deciding officer review or appeal. Table 2 shows the data in respect of appeals received and decided in the same period, as reported by the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Contracts (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Having regard to the information and briefing material supplied on behalf of the Deputy, the Department does not have any such administrative arrangements in place.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Domiciliary care allowance (DCA) is payable in respect of children under the age of 16 who have a severe disability that requires care and attention substantially in excess of another child of the same age. The care and attention received must be given by another person, effectively full-time so that the child can deal with the normal activities of daily life. The child must be likely to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Household Benefits Scheme (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The overall concern of Government in Budget 2014 and previous Budgets has been to protect the primary social welfare rates. The largest block of expenditure in the Department in the Estimate for 2014 is on pensions which will amount to €6.5 billion, or 33% of overall expenditure. Because of demographic change the Department’s spending on older people is increasing year on year....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned had been in receipt of a one-parent family payment from 21 June 2012. As her youngest child was over 7 years old on 3 July 2014, she was no longer eligible for a one-parent family payment. The person concerned had also been in receipt of a half-rate carer’s allowance. From 3 July 2014 this has been increased to a full personal rate, with child dependant...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Where a client is in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment and is successful in acquiring a training place, a training allowance may be payable at the same rate of payment. Under 25 year olds may have their payment increased when partaking in training and education. The availability of and access to training places is a matter in the first instance for my colleague the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Budget 2015 (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: Increasing State pension age and the abolition of the State pension (transition) are steps that have been taken to ensure the sustainability of pensions into the future. The decision to reform State pension was taken in the context of changing demographics and the fact that people are living longer and healthier lives. The OECD report on the Review of the Irish Pension System confirms that...