Results 16,581-16,600 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Overpayments (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned did not attend a scheduled oral hearing relating to an appeal against a decision of an overpayment of one-parent family payment for the period 12 June 2008 to 31 December 2008. It is open to the person concerned to contact the Social Welfare Appeals Office to seek a further hearing in relation to this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Eligibility (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In addition to a number of other criteria a person must be in receipt of a qualifying payment from this Department for a minimum of 390 days in order to qualify for a fuel allowance. The person concerned has been in receipt of a jobseeker's allowance since 01 May 2013 and has been paid for 219 days up to 14 January 2014. Accordingly she does not meet the criteria for the payment of a fuel...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Appeals (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In this case, the children's mother had previously applied for child benefit. Her claim was disallowed in September 2012, as she did not satisfy the habitual residence condition. The person concerned subsequently applied for child benefit on behalf of her grandchildren. This claim was also disallowed on the 17th of January 2013, as she was not deemed to be the qualified person in the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Budget 2014 introduced changes to the minimum contribution towards Rent Supplement and Mortgage Interest Supplement for couples from €35 to €40 for new and existing recipients. This equates to a supplement reduction of €21.60 per calendar month to the client in question. This change further aligns contributions to the schemes with Local Authority rents structures.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Applications (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is entitled to a one-parent family payment of €235.10 per week. This figure is made up of a personal allowance of €188, two qualified child allowances of €29.80 for each child and a fuel allowance of €20, less means of €32.50. The payment in respect of the second qualified child was authorised on 14 January, 2014. Arrears in respect...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Payments (16 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The client is in receipt of her full entitlement to rent supplement based on her current household circumstances. The client's monthly rent entitlement decreased from 1 November 2013 due to commencement on a FÁS course.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 333 and 334 together. The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) report referred to by the Deputy was published in 2010 and pre-dates the formation of the current government. However, I am aware of more up-to-date reports by the NYCI on the issue of youth unemployment, most notably their pre-Budget 2014 submission, which supports the introduction of a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Unemployment Measures (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 335, 363 and 374 together. The Government’s primary medium-term strategy to tackle youth unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. Past experience suggests that youth unemployment, which tends to rise relatively rapidly in a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: National Internship Scheme Eligibility (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 336, 356 and 409 together. JobBridge provides internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months for unemployed individuals on the Live Register, in organisations in the private, public and community voluntary sectors and at present is targeted at individuals who are in receipt of certain qualifying social welfare payments (Jobseekers Allowance/Jobseekers...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Work Initiatives (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The Tús initiative currently provides work opportunities for those who are fully unemployed for 12 months or more. Overall responsibility for the Tús rests with the Department of Social Protection with day-to-day operations delivered by 50 local development companies and Údarás na Gaeltachta (implementing bodies). The sum of €119.6 million has been allocated for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Dental Services Provision (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Information on the Department’s Dental Benefit scheme, including details of the qualifying conditions, is available on the Department’s website () and the Citizen’s Information website (), as well as from the Local Offices of both organisations. Other organisations, such as the Irish Dental Association, provide information on their websites, as do a number of other...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Employer PRSI is payable on earnings at the rate of 10.75% in respect of weekly earnings in excess of €356 and at 8.5% on weekly earnings of €356 or less. As part of the 2011 Jobs Initiative, the Minister for Finance announced the halving of the 8.5% rate of employer PRSI to 4.25%, as a means of helping job creation and improving labour cost competitiveness, particularly in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pensions Legislation (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: You will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to comment on matters relating to an individual pension scheme. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2009 broadened the options available to the trustees of a pension scheme in the event of the restructure of scheme benefits to include the benefits of deferred scheme members and post retirement increases in such benefits. Prior to the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The disability allowance (DA) application in respect of the person in question was refused on medical grounds and the person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 15 November 2013 and of his right to seek either a review of this decision or to appeal the decision to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office. This decision was made by a deciding officer, based upon the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Eligibility (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: Under the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, the Department may make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The total expenditure for ENPs in 2013 was in excess of €35 million. There is no automatic entitlement to a payment...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance was received in respect of the child concerned on the 19th July 2013. This application was referred to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors whose opinion was that the child was not medically eligible for the allowance. A letter issued on the 4th September 2013 advising of the decision to disallow the application. The person...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Eligibility (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: The back to education allowance (BTEA) scheme is designed to support second chance education. It enables eligible persons to pursue approved education courses that leads to a higher qualification than that already held and to continue to receive income support for the duration of a course of study, subject to conditions. BTEA covers full-time second level courses and third level courses to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (15 Jan 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 disallowed the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision. The person concerned was notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision on 8th January 2014. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Market Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: In November 2012, following a public procurement competition, the Department engaged the London based Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (Inclusion) to provide expert advice and assistance with the design and delivery of an employment service model (“JobPath”). Inclusion is the UK’s leading not-for-profit company dedicated to tackling disadvantage and promoting...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Welfare Services (15 Jan 2014)

Joan Burton: A key objective of the transfer of the Community Welfare Service from the Health Service Executive to the Department on 1st October 2011 was to provide a streamlined and consistent service to the customer. As part of this process and to support the Department’s activation commitments under the Pathways to Work Programme and the development of Intreo services nationally, it has been...