Results 19,101-19,120 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Civil Registration Legislation (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I understand that this refers to the question of having a commissioner for oaths entered in the register of solemnisers provided for under section 53 of the Civil Registration Act 2004, as amended, in order that they may solemnise marriages. Section 54 of the Act provides that a religious body, a secular body and the Health Service Executive (HSE) may be registered in the register of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Support (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 193, 199, 200, 205 and 206 together. In line with commitments contained in the Programme for Government, I established an Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare in June 2011, with the aim of harnessing expert opinion and experience to examine a number of specific issues. These include making cost-effective proposals for improving employment incentives and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer who proposes to hold an oral hearing on 1 July 2013. The person concerned has been notified of the arrangements. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: FÁS Local Training Initiatives Places (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 to 198, inclusive, together. The employees of Curragh Carpets were made redundant in November 2012. Most of the staff had been on systematic short-time working prior to that. The Department did not receive a full list of staff to be made redundant from the company. A list of 51 former employees has been compiled using data supplied by the company to the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment Eligibility (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 201 and 203 together. Some OFP customers are presently in receipt of both the one-parent family payment (OFP) and the family income supplement (FIS) and will experience a loss when they lose their entitlement to the OFP payment from July, 2013, onwards. An integral part of the FIS scheme is that once the level of payment is determined, it continues to be...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 30 May 2013, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Eligibility (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The family income supplement (FIS) is designed to provide income for employees on low earnings with families. This preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were unemployed and claiming other social welfare payments. The Revised Estimates for my Department provide for expenditure on FIS of almost...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Applications (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned made a rent supplement application on the 12 September 2012. The person concerned was awarded rent supplement in accordance with their Housing Needs Assessment from Athy Town Council which was dated the 29 August 2012. The entitlement has been paid in full.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 10 April 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 received, the appeal in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Allowance Eligibility (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Recipients of jobseeker payments are encouraged to avail of all reasonable efforts to gain employment or self-employment and, in most cases, such efforts would not affect their entitlement to jobseeker’s benefit or allowance, as appropriate. However, the situation can vary and there are circumstances where a jobseeker payment may be affected. For instance, a course may be either...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: International Agreements (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Ireland does not have a bilateral agreement with Serbia and none is planned. There is an EU Stabilisation and Association agreement with Serbia in place which covers, amongst other things, cooperation in matters of social security. However, the social security provisions are not yet in force and a decision of the EU Stabilisation and Association Council would be needed to put this aspect of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance Rates (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The information requested by the Deputy is not available at present. When the information becomes available, my Department will furnish it to the Deputy directly.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Payments (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: 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 scheme such as retention of secondary benefits and access to activation...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Administration (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income 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 approximately 85,000 recipients of rent supplement for which the Government has provided over €403...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Relations Contracts Expenditure (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The Department's press office deals with all media queries and public relations matters. No money has been spent by my Department on public relations consultancy during the period in question. Services were supplied by four companies during the development of the new corporate identity for Intreo, the new service provided by the Department which integrates employment and benefits payments. A...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Work Initiatives (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Tús, the community work placement initiative introduced during 2011, was set up to provide up to 5,000 short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year. Since its inception, some 10,250 people have been provided with work with 5,483 currently working on Tús. Tús was expanded in the last budget to enable an additional 2,500 per annum to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income 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 approximately 85,000 recipients of rent supplement for which the Government has provided over €403...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is an asylum seeker and has recently entered direct provision. As a result, a PPS Number has been allocated to her by the Community Welfare Officer handling her case.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Appeals (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 7th June 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 received, the appeal in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (18 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the appeal from the person concerned was assessed by a Medical Assessor of the Department of Social Protection who was of the opinion that she was capable of work. She appealed this decision and in that context the appeal was assessed by another Medical Assessor who also expressed the opinion that she was capable of work. In the...