Results 1,561-1,580 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Question Nos. 242 and 243 together. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income support, in the form of a weekly or monthly payment, to eligible people living in private rented accommodation...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (6 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of a rent supplement to assist eligible people who are unable to provide for their immediate accommodation needs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. Under the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: In order to receive Living Alone Increase a person must be living alone and, if over 66, must be in receipt of one of the following Social Welfare payments: State Pension (Contributory or Non-contributory), State Pension (Transition). As the person concerned is not in receipt of any payment from my Department she cannot avail of the Living Alone Increase.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (6 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The Christmas Bonus has again been paid this year to all recipients of long-term social welfare payments, at a rate equivalent to 100% of the person's normal weekly payment, subject to a minimum payment of €30. This measure costs an estimated €157 million this year and benefited some 1.25 million persons comprising 855,000 recipients and 394,000 dependants. The focus of the bonus has...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (6 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income support, in the form of a weekly or monthly payment, to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: While the dedicated information desk in this office is temporarily closed a full information service is available at the office. Callers to the local office can receive information forms and leaflets from the reception area. If further information is required, customers are advised to go to the claim acceptance area where the staff deal with all information queries, during office opening...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare Division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of rent supplement to eligible people whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs. Supplementary welfare allowance is not normally payable to people who are engaged in full-time employment....

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The amount of revenue raised in 2005 by way of the 2% health contribution was €1,131m. This includes the sum of €139m collected under Schedule D Income Tax (self-employed) remitted directly by the Revenue Commissioners to the Health Service Executive.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Family Income Supplement (FIS) is designed to provide income support for employees on low earnings with children and thereby preserve the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if s/he were claiming other Social Welfare payments. My Department received an application for Family Income Supplement from the person concerned...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Entitlement to carer's allowance is based on an applicant satisfying medical, means and residency conditions. In determining entitlement to the allowance there are, in certain cases, unavoidable time lags involved in making the necessary investigations and enquiries. Delays can also arise if persons applying for the allowance are not in a position to supply all the necessary information in...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned applied for Jobseekers Benefit on 25 January 2006. Although the person concerned was living in Ireland, he had been travelling to the UK to work prior to the termination of his employment in December 2005. Delays arose because there was no record of contributions having been paid on his behalf in Ireland or the UK for the relevant years. Following confirmation from the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The social security rights of people living and working in the EU are governed by EU Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72. The Regulations co-ordinate social security systems and are designed to ensure that people are not disadvantaged by moving within the EU to take up work. This is achieved primarily by setting out rules as to which State's social security a person will pay insurance...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The social welfare system comprises two types of payment, social insurance based schemes, which require those eligible to reach a certain standard in terms of the social insurance contributions paid or credited on their record, and non-contributory payments designed for those without the necessary social insurance record for contributory schemes who can satisfy a means test. In general, the...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: Family income supplement (FIS) is designed to provide cash support for employees on low earnings with families. This preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were unemployed and claiming other social welfare payments. FIS is not payable to self-employed people. As the person concerned is...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: My Department requires a range of skills and expertise to deliver quality services and this is met through a combination of input from the staff of the Department and the engagement of consultants. Broadly expertise is sought under three main headings: Support with a number of strategic multi-annual programmes aimed at enhancing the delivery of the Department's services e.g. the Service...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (5 Dec 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The five statutory agencies operating under the aegis of my Department are the Pensions Board, the Combat Poverty Agency, Comhairle, the Family Support Agency and the Social Welfare Tribunal. No upper age limit applies regarding membership of the boards of any of the agencies under the aegis of my Department.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme (BSCFA) is administered on behalf of my Department by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The BSCFA scheme provides a one-off payment to eligible families to assist with the extra costs when their children start school each autumn. The allowance is intended as a contribution towards meeting the full cost of...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (30 Nov 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The average length of time taken to deal with all appeals (both summary and oral) by the Social Welfare Appeals Office in 2005 was 20 weeks. If allowance is made for the 25% most protracted cases, the average falls to 13 weeks. The social welfare appeals process is a quasi-judicial process and it is necessary for the Appeals officer to be satisfied that he/she has all the facts before making...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Appeals: Social Welfare Appeals (30 Nov 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The person concerned applied for farm assist from 16 September 2005. Her means were assessed at Euro 133.00 per week derived from spouse's self-employment and income from land and accordingly the Deciding Officer awarded farm assist at the rate of Euro 58.00 per week. An appeal against this decision was received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 21 June 2006 and the Appeals Officer...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (30 Nov 2006)

Séamus Brennan: The back to education allowance is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to encourage and facilitate people on certain social welfare payments to improve their skills and qualifications and, therefore, their prospects of returning to the active work force. To qualify for participation an applicant must, inter alia, be in receipt of a relevant social welfare payment and at...