Results 14,861-14,880 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (29 May 2014)

Joan Burton: The workload of the appeals office has increased dramatically in recent years. Up to 2009 the average number of appeals received was 15,000 per annum, whereas in 2012 the number of appeals received peaked at 35,484, reducing to 32,777 appeals in 2013. This has placed considerable pressure on the office. Significant effort and resources have been devoted to reforming the appeals process to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (29 May 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 13thMarch 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 have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (29 May 2014)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer's allowance from the person in question on the 10th April 2014. The application is with a deciding officer for a decision. Once processed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (29 May 2014)

Joan Burton: The client concerned has not made an application for rent supplement to the Department. In order for the client to receive an informed decision, all pertaining information regarding the application must be sent to the Mid Leinster Rents Unit, PO Box 11758, Dublin 24. A rent supplement booklet has been posted to her in order to facilitate the application. A decision on eligibility can be...

Seanad: Youth Guarantee and Rent Supplement: Statements (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: The caps are based on what is indicated to us on the basis of analysis of the data. I want to say the following again. Social protection accounts, through rent supplement, for about 30% of the housing rental market nationally. Last year we raised rents, particularly in the Dublin area but in other areas of tight supply, by about 9% which was a very significant increase compared, for...

Seanad: Youth Guarantee and Rent Supplement: Statements (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: All of those are fantastic areas for people with an interest in them to be involved and to be creative. On fiscal constraints, what we have now in terms of the youth guarantee Europe-wide is a fund of money over the next EU budget period. As this country had high youth unemployment – it has since fallen – when the agreement was brokered at the Heads of State meeting, it was...

Seanad: Youth Guarantee and Rent Supplement: Statements (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: -----and Senator O'Donnell, will recognise the phenomenon of a certain kind of young person who will slightly shrink back and appear to want to be left alone because he or she is not sure what is going on. I went to a graduation ceremony some months later and one would not believe the difference. The young people were wearing very nice shirts and chinos. Their heads were up and they were...

Seanad: Youth Guarantee and Rent Supplement: Statements (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: I should make a general point about a number of questions as Senators can be helpful. There is a decreasing rate of youth unemployment, which is fantastic. One of the difficulties is that areas like retail and entry-level jobs dry up in a recession, so as the economy recovers, some of those sectors again have openings and young people can get such entry-level jobs. Employers have an...

Seanad: Youth Guarantee and Rent Supplement: Statements (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: In Germany, for example, if a son or daughter achieves an apprenticeship, it would be celebrated just as much as any achievement of a third level place. In other words we lack a "dual" system. It is really important to understand that this is a cultural shift to include young people and to have very limited social acceptance of young people being unemployed during what are potentially their...

Seanad: Youth Guarantee and Rent Supplement: Statements (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: I thank the Cathaoirleach and Seanad for inviting me before it today. I will start by giving a brief overview of the Government's strategy to tackle the pressing issue of youth unemployment. Research evidence shows that early and prolonged periods of unemployment during a person's lifetime can have a permanent scarring effect on his or her capacity to improve his or her standard of living....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 27thMarch 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 have been received from the Department, the case in question will be referred to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Death Certificates Issues (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: I have made enquiries in relation to this case with the General Register Office and have been informed that the death has not yet been registered. A death may only be registered in the Register of Deaths in Ireland on foot of a certificate from a registered medical practitioner or a Coroner's certificate.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Work Placement Programmes (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: JobBridge Internships are open to jobseekers who have been in receipt of an eligible Social Welfare payment (Jobseekers Allowance, Jobseekers Benefit, One Parent Family Payment, Disability Benefit) or signing for credits for 3 months (78 days) out of the previous 6 months. The scheme has been launched in this targeted way to allocate scarce exchequer resources to make maximum impact for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Activation Measures (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 78 together. Given the scale of unemployment levels, the key objective of activation policy and labour market initiatives is to offer assistance to those most in need of support in securing work and achieving financial self-sufficiency. This policy objective prioritises scarce resources to those in receipt of qualifying welfare payments. Accordingly...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (28 May 2014)

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 employment. The revised estimates for the Department of Social Protection provide for expenditure of €3.3bn in 2014 in respect of the jobseeker's schemes. Subject to scheme conditions, and as is the case in respect of a range of other...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Semi-State Bodies (28 May 2014)

Joan Burton: There are no commercial semi-State organisations operating under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Review (27 May 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Registration of Births (27 May 2014)

Joan Burton: The loss of a child in any circumstances is an extremely tragic event and I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to those families who have lost a child. The voluntary registration of stillbirths is provided for in section 28 of the Civil Registration Act 2004. The definition of a “stillborn child” is contained in section 2(1) of that Act and provides that a stillborn child...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (27 May 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 348, 378, 406, 410 and 425 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,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (27 May 2014)

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 employment. The revised estimates for the Department of Social Protection provide for expenditure of €3.3bn in 2014 in respect of the jobseeker’s schemes. It is a fundamental qualifying condition for these schemes that a...