Results 15,861-15,880 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is eligible for and has been in receipt of rent supplement since January 1999. His rent is within the allowable rent limit for a single person living in self-contained private rented accommodation and he is receiving the correct amount payable to him.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: Under the Social Welfare code an orphan is defined as a child, both of whose parents are dead, or a child whose parent or parents have abandoned and failed to provide for them. A child who is residing with a parent, adoptive parent or step-parent is not regarded as an orphan. In cases where both parents of a child are dead, and an application is made for guardian’s payment, the death...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (4 Mar 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 and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source. There are currently approximately 78,000 rent...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Mortgage Interest Supplement Appeals (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that, as statistics in respect of processing times for mortgage interest supplement as a subset of supplementary welfare allowance appeals are not maintained separately in that office, the information requested by the Deputy is regrettably not available. I am advised however, that the average time taken to process supplementary welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: There is no record of the Social Welfare Branch Office in Boyle or the Activation Unit in Roscommon Control office referring customers to the training course mentioned. If the deputy wishes to provide details of the referral, the matter will be examined and he will be notified of the outcome.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: People who have incurred an overpayment from the Department of Social Protection have a liability under law to refund the amounts involved - Section 338 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005 (as amended) refers. They have received monies to which they were not entitled and the Department has a responsibility to ensure that all overpayments are repaid in full. Interest or penalties...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals (4 Mar 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 allow 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 Protection...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Applications (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The application for the person concerned is currently with a social welfare inspector, who has requested from the person an up to date bank statement. When this is received the inspector will be in a position to complete his report and a decision will be made by the deciding officer on receipt of the inspector’s report.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The basic criteria that must be met by applicants wishing to participate in Community Employment (CE) schemes for one year are set out as follows: A person must be 25 years of age and over and currently in receipt of any combination of the following social welfare payments for 12 continuous months or more: - Jobseekers Benefit (JB);- Jobseekers Allowance (JA); - One Parent Family Payment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to convene an oral hearing in this case. Every effort will be made to hear the case as quickly as possible and the appellant will be informed when arrangements for the oral hearing have been made. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Waiting Times (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers and works to ensure that claims and appeals are processed in the most efficient and expeditious way possible, having regard to the eligibility conditions that apply to each scheme. There are no backlogs in new applications for invalidity pension, carer’s allowance and disability allowance with all...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: There are currently approximately 78,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014. Following an extensive review of the private rental market revised maximum rent limits were introduced from Monday 17 June 2013 and will be in place until 31 December 2014. Despite the overall pressures on the social protection budget, there have been...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Payments (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department wishes to convey its sympathy to the family in question on their sad bereavement. The Department has reviewed this case and I can confirm that the person concerned was entitled to and was paid six weeks payment following the death of the person they were caring for which occurred on 25th December 2013. The person in question was entitled to payment from the 26th of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 15th November 2013. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 25th February 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 have been received in the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) scheme is a second chance education opportunities scheme designed to remove the barriers to participation in second and third level education by enabling eligible people on social welfare to continue to receive a payment while pursuing an approved full-time education course that leads to a higher qualification than that already held. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Support Services Issues (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Office of Public Works (OPW) has responsibility for the acquisition and maintenance of office accommodation for the Department of Social Protection. The Department works closely with OPW in relation to responsibilities under Section 25 of the Disability Act 2005, which requires that public buildings are compliant with Part M of the Building Regulations (2010). The OPW is very aware of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The number of places filled on Community Employment as at year-end 2008 was 22,896. The number of places filled on Community Employment as at year-end 2013 was 23,943. There was no reduction in CE places and, in fact, there was an increase of 1,047 places.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 10th December 2013. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (4 Mar 2014)

Joan Burton: I am informed by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that, an appeal was registered on 23rd January 2014, and in accordance with the statutory requirements, the Appeals Office has contacted the appellant and asked him to set out the complete grounds of his appeal. On receipt of his response the relevant departmental papers will be requested from the Department of Social Protection and the...