Results 14,321-14,340 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Administration (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 356 and 403 together. The current free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by almost 90...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Birth Certificates Administration (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: In order to properly identify the parties to a marriage, the requirements under section 46 (7) of the Civil Registration Act, 2004, include, inter alia, the authentication of birth certificates. This step is necessary to help ensure that the intended marriage is not for unlawful purposes. In this regard, it is not possible to discriminate between persons born outside this jurisdiction,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Civil Marriages Data (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: Part 6 of the Civil Registration Act, 2004 which provides for the law relating to marriages was commenced in 2007. Prior to 2007 religious bodies were responsible for the registration of their own solemnisers. The tables below reflect this as figures prior to 2008 are not available. Table 1 contains details, broken down by county, of religious solemnisers. The ‘other’ figure...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme Administration (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 359, 395 and 420 together. The purpose of the rural social scheme is to provide income support for farmers and those engaged in the fishing sector who have an entitlement to specified social welfare payments. The scheme currently provides work opportunities for around 2,600 participants and 130 supervisory staff. Údarás na Gaeltachta has an RSS...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: School Meals Programme (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 360 to 362, inclusive, together. The school meals programme provides funding towards the provision of food services to some 1,600 schools and organisations which benefits approximately 205,000 children through two schemes for the current academic year, at a total cost of €37 million. The first is the statutory urban school meals scheme, operated by...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: JobsPlus Scheme (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: JobsPlus provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who recruit employees from those who are long term on the live register. JobsPlus is biased in favour of those who are longer term unemployed. It provides employers with two levels of payment: €7,500 over two years where a jobseeker who is 12-24 months on the live register is recruited and €10,000 for each...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Data (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: As of June 2014, 36,013 citizens were signing for credited contributions with the Department. None of these citizens were in receipt of a payment from the Department. The Deputy should note that JobBridge internships are open to those signing for social insurance credits for 3 months or more. The average annual cost of a placement on Community Employment (CE), Tús and Rural Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: The one-parent family payment (OFP) has played an important role in providing income support to lone parents since its introduction in 1997. The number of OFP recipients stood at 74,426 in June, 2014, and an estimated €863 million is expected to be spent on the scheme during 2014. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2012, contains provisions to reduce, on a phased basis, the income...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Expenditure (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: The table below details the allocations for family income supplement contained in the Revised Estimates Volumes for the period 2012 to 2014, inclusive, as well as the out-turns for 2012 and 2013. Expenditure on the scheme to end May of this year was €118.6 million (provisional) or €2.1 million ahead of profile. - 2012 €000 2013 €000 2014 €000 REV...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Payments (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 367, 368 and 427 together. The estimated cost, based on recipient data at end April last, of increasing the maximum personal rate of back to education allowance for all under 26 year olds to €188 is estimated at €3 million in a full year. The estimated cost, based on Department of Education and Skills data in relation to full time second level...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Career Breaks (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: Details of the number of staff from my Department currently on career breaks are provided below indicating the duration since the career break commenced. All career breaks are sanctioned for a minimum period of six months. Career Breaks Number of staff On Career Break for less than 6 months 2 On Career Break for a period between 6 months and 1 year 3 On Career Break for a period between...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: 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. Since March 2011, photography services were used for the occasions as set out in the table below. The total cost from that date is €11,477. The procurement of these...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: In line with Department of Social Protection policy, the press office deals with all media queries and public relations matters. It is the Department’s policy to use in-house resources as much as possible and to restrict the use of external firms to a minimum. During this period, the Department has used the services of one external public relations firm for training purposes, details...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on the 6th March 2014. The person concerned was refused carers allowance on the grounds that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. She was notified of this decision on the 2nd of July 2014, the reason for it and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 23rdMay 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: Free Travel Scheme Payments (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: The current free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by almost 90 private transport operators. There are currently over 780,000...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Expenditure (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 375 and 432 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 376 and 377 together. The Department is engaged in a number of service delivery modernisation and transformation programmes involving business process, organisational and technological change. These programmes are supported by the procurement of external development services (IT external service provision) as well as engagement of external IT consultants to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Appointments to State Boards (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Authority, the Pensions Ombudsman (which does not have a Board) and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Details of appointments to the Boards since March 2011 are set out in the table below: Agency/Board Number of Appointments to State Boards Number of Vacancies...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned applied for rent supplement on 15thMay 2014. She was requested to provide further documentation in support of her application in order that her claim could be processed. The outstanding information was provided on 30thJune 2014, and as a result her application has now been approved. She has been sent written notification of this decision and her first payment which will...