Results 16,441-16,460 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: On the Deputy's first question which was related to wages and salaries, he is correct that the reduction in costs is down to the Haddington Road agreement. It is also related to the employment control framework whereby the number of staff the Department can employ is limited by the Department of Finance on a reducing scale. Training and development and incidental expenses under subhead 3...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Subhead 7 relates, for instance, to the ESRI which operates a model in terms of economic income distribution in Ireland called SWITCH. It examines the social impact of budgets. We pay the ESRI for that service. On pensions policy reserve, about which I spoke, last year we commissioned the OECD to do some work. There are also ongoing reviews of pension fees and costs to pension scheme...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: As the Deputy knows, the number involved is significant.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In the context of the bereavement grant, the Department makes a number of payments to people who have unfortunately been bereaved. In the case of a widow or widower whose spouse has died, we continue to pay the social welfare pension of the person who has died for six weeks. That is worth far more to people than the bereavement grant.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In the case of a widow or widower with a dependent child or children, we pay a special grant of €6,000 on the death of his or her spouse. I am sure the Deputy will agree that this is a significant amount. As the Deputy said, we also make exceptional needs payments, dealt with on a case by case basis, to meet funeral and burial expenses. During the debate on the Bill I gave Deputies...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Table No. 11 on page 19 of the documentation shows that we estimate expenditure of some €120 million on Tús in 2014.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In the case of community employment schemes, the average cost per payment to a participant is some €265.26, while the figure for Tús is approximately €273.95. The difference arises because participants in Tús are drawn from the ranks of the long-term unemployed who tend to be younger and have more dependants. This makes the average payment higher than that for...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: On the last point on pensions, the answer is no. However, we are required by the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Committee of Public Accounts to carry out random checks of all headings of social welfare expenditure where people are in receipt of income support. The Comptroller and Auditor General's office has made clear this requirement in each of its reports in the past five to...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Yes. The target is to deal with the back log of 14,000 appeals for this year. Last year's starting figure of 20,000 was reduced to 14,000. Our target is to reduce that figure significantly in this year. We are on course to achieve that target. The chief appeals officer has overseen staff training in making decisions on appeals. If a claimant presents full information with the initial...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I will deal with the youth guarantee question first. Before Christmas, the Department submitted the Irish application and statement on the scheme to the Commission. We await the reply. We also commissioned the OECD to report on how the youth guarantee might work in Ireland. The submission to the Commission and the OECD report will be published early next Tuesday afternoon, subject to...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I am making my calculations. If somebody was to take up a job at €8.65 per hour for a 39 hour week, he or she would receive a gross payment of €338.52. If that person were single, he or she would receive €188 per week on social welfare. The comparison is absolutely clear for a single person. There have been discussions, particularly in Germany, about raising the...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: On 31 December 2012 there were 20,414 appeals in hand. On 31 December 2013 there were 14,770, a fall of 28% in the backlog of appeals. During 2012 a total of 32,588 decisions were made. During 2013 a total of 38,421 decisions were made, an increase of 18%. We are beginning to get through the backlog, but it is still significant. As our technology improves, I hope we will be able to deal...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Yes, I agree.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The advisory group on tax and social welfare has done a great deal of work and published several reports on how to help families with children in particular and how to ensure that in every house there is a job for at least one of the adults. The committee will be aware that if children are living in a household where no one goes to work, sometimes the outcome for those children is far below...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I agree with Deputy Collins and that is rather worrying. One of the reasons I am a strong advocate of Ireland's need for a debt deal from the European Union down the road, because of what happened with the banking collapse, is so that we can invest in the training and education of our people. The calibre of jobs that people apply for and the income outcomes are heavily related to the level...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: On special needs payments, the Deputy will appreciate that when this system operated in the old health boards and Health Service Executive it involved different regions or area and the level of oversight was limited to perhaps a town or region. In some areas, there was a strong tradition of making a payment for certain events, while the same payment may have been unheard of in other areas....

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Yes, I can give the Deputy the numbers. The rate of unemployment will be a function of the numbers of people at work in the economy, immigration, emigration and so forth. Last year, the average live register figure was 419,000. As I said in my opening statement, in October of last year, the register fell below 400,000 for the first time. The register is somewhat seasonal and goes up and...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: It is not enough.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I will take the Deputy's question about lone parents first and will use an example to illustrate the point I wish to make. Let us take a lone parent with one child who is offered a job which pays €300 per week. If that parent applies for FIS, he or she will get an additional €120 per week. More and more lone parents who are now in work are very significant beneficiaries of...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection (Revised) (23 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The rule applying to the State contributory pension transition payment is that the means-test applies to the dependant and the rule stands. If people do not qualify for jobseeker's allowance in the first place, they are unlikely to qualify for a non-contributory pension, perhaps because one of the people involved is working.