Results 17,821-17,840 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: European Court of Justice Rulings (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The ruling by the European Court of Justice was in response to a reference by the High Court seeking clarification of the interpretation of European law emanating from EU Directive 2008/94EC on the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer.Following the ECJ ruling, the matter will now revert to the High Court for consideration. Given this matter remains before...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Code Reform (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The number of one-parent family payment (OFP) recipients stood at 80,823 in August 2013. The expenditure on the OFP scheme was €1.06 billion in 2012 and is estimated to be €935 million in 2013. Currently 36% of OFP recipients are employed. Despite significant levels of state spending on one-parent families, the results have been poor in terms of tackling the poverty and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Applications (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: According to the records of this Department the persons concerned are a family with five dependent children. A rent supplement application from an applicant with five dependent children is assessed on a case by case basis, as a maximum rent limit is not stipulated within the maximum rent limit guidelines for such cases. It is open to the persons concerned to contact their local community...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Budget 2014 (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 30, 59 and 63 together. The Expenditure Report 2013 published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform last December provided for additional new expenditure reduction measures of €440 million to be achieved in 2014 in the Department of Social Protection budget. Again this year I sought to minimise the impact of the necessary...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Fuel Allowance Payments (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16, 27, 40 and 132 together. I am very aware of the issues raised by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Energy poverty is a factor of income, energy prices and the thermal efficiency of the home. The most cost-effective means of protecting households from energy poverty is to improve the thermal efficiency of the home. The Better Energy Warmer Homes...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Payments (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 32 together. The farm assist scheme is based on jobseeker’s allowance. It was introduced in 1999 to replace ‘Smallholders Unemployment Assistance’ for low income farmers, without the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking work. Farm assist recipients retain all the advantages of the jobseeker’s allowance...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: On the 19 July, 2013 the Cabinet approved the drafting of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2013. The Bill will provide for a wide range of issues relating to the registration of life events in the State. Representations and recommendations have been made by various groups and organisations since the enactment of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and this Bill seeks to address these...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The jobseeker's benefit and jobseeker’s allowance schemes provide income support for people who have lost work and are unable to find alternative full-time employment. The Revised Estimates for the Department provide for expenditure on the jobseeker’s schemes of €3.66 billion in 2013. It is a fundamental qualifying condition of both schemes that a person must be fully...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Appointments to State Boards (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection are the Citizens Information Board, the Pensions Board, the Pensions Ombudsman (which does not have a board) and the Social Welfare Tribunal. Citizens Information Board The procedures followed when appointing members to the Citizens Information Board (CIB) are in accordance with the Revised Code of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Details of the social assistance payments offered by the Department are widely publicised, for example on the departmental website , and information is also available through social welfare local offices. Self-employed persons are liable for pay related social insurance (PRSI) at a rate of 4%, which entitles them to access long-term benefits such as state pension (contributory) and widow's,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Initiatives (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The objective of Gateway is to assist the personal and social development of participants by providing short-term work opportunities with county and city councils with the objective of bridging the gap between unemployment and re-entering the workforce. Gateway is a joint initiative between this Department and county and city councils and responsibility for delivery of this initiative rests...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Homeless Persons Supports (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Novas Initiatives, in a submission to the Department, have raised issues in relation to reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance for younger persons.The reduced rates encourage young jobseekers to improve their skills and remain active in the labour market in order to avoid the risk of becoming long-term unemployed and will help them to progress into sustainable employment on a long-term...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Review (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The review of the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) scheme, which I initiated in May 2012, was completed in December 2012. The report of the review was published in April 2013. The recommendations in the report of the review of the DCA scheme can be divided into administrative changes, which streamline, simplify and make the process more transparent for parents/guardians, and policy...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions Reform (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Increasing State pension age and the abolition of the State pension (transition) are steps that have been taken to ensure the sustainability of pensions into the future. The decision to reform State pension was taken in the context of changing demographics and the fact that people are living longer and healthier lives. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act, 2011 provides that State pension age...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Poverty Impact Assessment (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: Poverty Impact Assessment (formerly poverty proofing) is a requirement under the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016. Poverty impact assessment is the process by which Government departments, local authorities and state agencies assess policies and programmes at design, implementation and review stages in relation to the likely impact that they will have or have had on poverty...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Unemployment Data (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The Deputy will be aware that the Department of Social Protection has undergone a significant transformation in recent years with the merger of welfare and employment services, which up until 2012, were provided by three separate organisations. This on-going transformation agenda is underpinned by the Government's twin-pronged approaches set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, focused on...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Eligibility (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: There are certain conditions placed on persons in receipt of carer's allowance. For example, they cannot be engaged in employment, self-employment, training or education courses outside the home for more than 15 hours a week as this would impact on their caring responsibilities. Community Employment involves working a 19½ hour week, so by taking up a CE position they would be in breach...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Schemes (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 31 and 50 together. Gateway aims to improve the employability and work readiness of participants by providing them with the opportunities to put their work skills into practice and to learn new skills to enable them to progress to work, further education or other development opportunities. In line with Pathways to Work, Gateway will provide, for those...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: As part of the European Council agreement on the 2014 - 2020 EU Budget earlier this year, it was decided, in association with the agreement on the Youth Guarantee, to provide €6 billion for a new Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) for regions with particularly high levels of youth unemployment. €3 billion of this is to be earmarked from existing resources within the European...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Labour Market Issues (17 Oct 2013)

Joan Burton: The role of the Labour Market Council is to advise the Minister on matters relating to the implementation of Pathways to Work. Membership of the Council comprises national and international stakeholders and policy experts. This is an approach which has worked well, for example, with regard to the implementation of JobBridge. Over an initial 12 month period to Sept. 2014, the group will be...