Results 15,441-15,460 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Eligibility (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: The Deputy has requested information that is not readily available. It is not possible to provide this information today. However, I will be in touch with the Deputy as soon as the reply is complete.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Numbers (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: There were 47,136 State Pension Contributory claims awarded in the period since September 1st 2012. A breakdown of these claims by rate band and gender is provided in the tabular statement below. The claims are further broken down to identify mixed rate, EU and other bilateral awards, where the rate of payment is a percentage of the relevant rate for the full amount in each band. - Rates...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) Expenditure (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: The homemaker’s scheme was introduced in 1994 to make qualification for State pension (contributory) easier for those who take time out of the workforce for caring duties. It does this by disregarding years spent outside the workforce on such duties when calculating the average contributions per year on the pensioner’s record. To be eligible for the homemakers scheme, a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 19th March 2014. This application is currently with a Deciding Officer who will make a decision on the application and notify the person accordingly. It is currently taking approximately 10 weeks to process DCA applications.

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

Joan Burton: There is an obligation on this Department to ensure that those benefitting from the rent supplement scheme are tax compliant. Under social welfare legislation, rent supplement is not payable in respect of a tenancy where the landlord has not provided the Department with a Tax Reference Number in a prescribed form, or has not advised the Department in a prescribed form that she/he has no Tax...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Costais Aistriúcháin (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: Cuirtear seirbhís aistriúcháin ar fáil i ngach teanga, ach é a iarraidh, ar mhaithe le cabhrú le daoine ina ndéileálacha leis an Roinn. Áirítear air sin seirbhísí aistriúcháin ó Bhéarla go Gaeilge agus ón nGaeilge go dtí an Béarla ar aon dul le ceanglais Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla, 2003. San...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Payments (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: It is estimated that a weekly average of 5,200 people aged 65 will be in receipt of either jobseeker’s benefit or allowance in 2014. However, data on the number of persons aged 65 who may apply for jobseeker’s benefit this year and who are in receipt of a pension arising from employment in the civil and public service is not available. It should be noted that permanent and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: A primary function of the social welfare system in relation to persons of working age is to support persons and their families where they have lost or are unable to attain employment, with supports also being available to working age persons facing other contingencies such as illness, disability and child birth. Consistent with this role the system also helps persons to attain and maintain a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: A Personal Public Service (PPS) Number is the individual’s unique reference number for his or her interactions with public bodies. Prior to 2000, some individuals were allocated a specific type of PPS Number to enable computer systems in the Revenue Commissioners to “link” married couples for the application of marriage rate bands. Such numbers, which were linked to the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Staff Safety (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department takes its responsibilities very seriously and acts in accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005. The Department conducts ongoing and regular reviews of risk assessments, in line with the general principles of prevention, as set out in Health and Safety obligations regarding safety, health and welfare of its staff. Safety control measures are put in...

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

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an oral hearing of this appeal was scheduled for the 07thApril 2014. The person concerned will be notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision when the appeal has been finalised. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: The most recent application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on the 24th March 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 up to 10 weeks to process an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: All Community Employment (CE) participants are encouraged to seek other work outside of CE, or engage in any other activity which would enhance their future work options, while on their time off the project. This does not affect their CE allowances for any part of the CE contract period. Payment for any such work is subject to normal PAYE/PRSI conditions but does not alter their PRSI status...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection has developed, in conjunction with a number of other Government Departments, a rules based standard for establishing and authenticating an individual’s identity for the purposes of access to public services. This programme of work, which is known as the Standard Authentication Framework Environment or SAFE for short, also provided for the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: While I am aware of the developments in the Irish Airlines Staff Superannuation Scheme, you will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to comment on these developments as these are a matter for the management of the company and the trustees of the relevant pension scheme. The Pensions Authority supervises the regulation of individual schemes in accordance with the Pensions Act. The...

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

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

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: With effect from 3rdApril 2000, cumulative lifetime participation on Community Employment (CE) by an individual will be limited to: - 3 years (156 weeks) for persons under 55 years of age. - 6 years (312 weeks) for persons of 55 years of age up to State Pension age. Participation on CE prior to 3rdApril 2000 is not counted. This means that a CE-eligible person of 55 or over who had not...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Employment Support Services (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: Gateway was introduced by the Department of Social Protection to deliver on the policy objectives set out in Pathways to Work and is designed to bridge the gap between unemployment and re-entering the workforce. Responsibility for delivery of this initiative rests with individual county and city councils. Gateway has a target to provide 3,000 placements focusing on those who have been...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation, whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are currently approximately 78,000 rent supplement recipients at a cost over €344 million for 2014. The limits are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (8 Apr 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 27thFebruary 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...