Results 16,361-16,380 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The issue of youth unemployment falls within the remit of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Labour Market Issues chaired by the Taoiseach. As I have just pointed out in response to an earlier question the Government strategy to address unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity and to implement measures to keep...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Administration (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118, 129, 131 and 137 together. Following the independent evaluation of JobBridge, the Department is examining a range of measures to make the scheme more effective. I am satisfied that the current robust vetting procedures carried out by the National Contact Centre of the Department are operating effectively to filter out internships that do not meet the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 119, 121, 124, 130 and 136 together. There are currently approximately 80,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Department has provided over €344 million for 2014. Almost 30,000 of these recipients are in the Dublin area, The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: As I informed the Deputy on 10 December 2013, the free movement of workers and other citizens of the Union is a fundamental right granted by the EU Treaties and one which can bring benefits, economic and otherwise, to the individual and to the EU as a whole. Accordingly, it is something to be facilitated and encouraged. However, we must also ensure that the right of free movement is used for...

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

Joan Burton: The Department has been working to ensure that all customers who are affected by the age change reforms to the one-parent family payment (OFP) scheme have a suitable route through this change from both an income support and activation perspective. Given that there is no work conditionality attached to the OFP scheme, recipients of the payment can participate in training and education...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Housing Assistance Payments Implementation (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 134 together. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme 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 80,000 rent supplement recipients...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Reform (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare and Pensions (No.2) Act provides for the issue of guidance in relation to the drawdown of State funding in the event of the wind up of an underfunded scheme, where the employer is insolvent and the scheme does not have sufficient resources to meet 50% of scheme benefits or benefits up to a maximum of €12,000. This guidance is being advanced at present. The use...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Support Services Provision (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department provides a wide range of income and work-related supports for people with disabilities. Work-related supports include the EmployAbility service (formerly the Supported Employment Programme) which facilitates the integration of people with disabilities into paid employment in the open labour market; and a number of other supports specifically for employers (the Wage Subsidy...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rural Social Scheme Administration (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Work undertaken by participants on the rural social scheme supports the provision of services of benefit to rural communities. Day-to-day operational responsibility rests with each of the Implementing Bodies contracted by the Department to deliver the scheme. These bodies comprise local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta. In general, participants on the scheme are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department is examining the operation of all its services, including the Community Welfare Service, in the context of the Pathways to Work commitments and the development of Intreo services nationally. A significant reform programme to ensure appropriate resources are focused in the provision of opportunities, supports and assistance for unemployed persons is well advanced. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The EU Council Recommendation on The Youth Guarantee is that member states should: “Ensure that all young people under the age of 25 years receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.” In agreeing this recommendation, the EU accepted that...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Reform (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: State pension entitlements can only be assessed on the basis of the eligibility conditions applicable on the date an applicant reaches pension age. A person’s State pension (contributory) pension entitlement depends on the accuracy of their social security record to date, their future employment patterns, and their ongoing contributions to the social insurance fund until they reach...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme 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 80,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: One of the guiding principles of the Intreo service is to have the ability to provide access to all services in a single location rather than multiple locations serving the same community. The one-stop-shop element is being rolled out to all existing Social Welfare Local Offices (SWLO). However, providing all services in a single location is a complex task given the wide variety of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Reform (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The overall objective of the pension system in Ireland is to provide an adequate and sustainable basic standard of living through direct State supports and to encourage people (through tax reliefs) to make supplementary pension provision so that they may have an adequate replacement income when they retire from work. The State pension has been successful in ensuring older people have an...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The average appeal processing time for 2011, 2012 and 2013 broken down by all social welfare scheme types is outlined in the tables below. The average processing time for all appeals peaked in 2011 at 52.5 weeks for an oral hearing and 25.1 weeks for a summary decision. In 2012, processing times improved by 10.3 weeks when the average time for an oral hearing was 39.5 weeks while there was...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Fund Fees (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The Deputy will be aware that the Report on Pension Charges was completed and published in October 2012. This Report was undertaken by my Department, working with the Central Bank and the Pensions Board, and with support from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The primary objective of the report was to gather information on the level of pension charges levied, to assess whether these charges are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Household Benefits Scheme (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 358 and 361 together. The overall concern of the Government in recent budgets has been to protect the primary weekly social welfare rates. Maintaining the rate of the State pension and other core payments is critical in relation to protecting people from poverty. To allow us to protect these core payments, we have had to look very carefully at other...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 18 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 (28 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The carer’s allowance application, by the person concerned, was disallowed by a Deciding Officer following an assessment by a Medical Assessor of the Department who was of the opinion that the person being cared for is not so invalided or disabled as to require full-time care and attention as laid down in carer’s allowance legislation. I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals...