Results 19,301-19,320 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Qualified Child Increase Payments (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Qualified child increases (QCIs) are paid as supplements to weekly social welfare benefit and assistance payments to reflect the need for greater incomes among benefit-dependent households with dependent children. Therefore, QCI payments do not of themselves constitute a specific social welfare scheme and entitlement to the appropriate primary adult payment must be established in the first...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Waiting Times (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that processing times in relation to appeals are measured and reported by an ICT system in the Appeals Office. The information in relation to the time taken for each of the 39 reviews is not available as reviews by the Chief Appeals Officer are not tracked on this system. When a review is requested, the files in question are recalled from...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Creating jobs and tackling poverty are two of the key challenges that Ireland now faces. It is essential that our tax and social protection systems play their part in addressing these challenges. To this end, and in line with commitments contained in the Programme for Government, I established an Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare, with the aim of harnessing expert opinion and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Defined Pension Benefit Schemes Issues (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The mechanism for monitoring the funding level of defined benefits pension schemes (the Funding Standard) was in abeyance following the financial downturn in 2008, until June 2012. With the re-introduction of the Funding Standard in June 2012, pension schemes are required to submit funding proposals to the Pensions Board by end June 2013. It is not possible to estimate how many schemes are...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Fraud Issues (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The Programme for Government commits to a zero tolerance approach towards social welfare fraud. The Department’s Fraud Initiative 2011 – 2013 further articulates this overarching policy objective. A key priority is to ensure that fraudulent activity within the social welfare system is vigorously prevented and combatted. The approach is one which is aimed at highlighting the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Appeals (11 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 14November 2012. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 30 May...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Appeals (11 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 26 April 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Education Allowance Applications (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned made a claim for jobseeker’s allowance on 31 May 2013 which has been approved; however no application for back to education allowance has been received from him. Should he submit an application, it will be assessed to see if he would be eligible to qualify under the terms of the scheme.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Applications (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I confirm that the department received an application for carer’s allowance from the person in question on 5 June 2012. The medical assessment has been completed. The application is currently with a social welfare investigative officer for assessment of means and confirmation that all the conditions for receipt of carer’s allowance are satisfied. Once the investigative...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (11 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 30 January 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. These papers were received in the Social Welfare Appeals Office on 29 May...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer having fully considered all the available evidence, including that adduced at oral hearing, disallowed the appeal of the person concerned. The person concerned has been notified of the Appeals Officer decision. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Appeals (11 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 2 May 2013. It is a statutory requirement of the appeals process that the relevant Departmental papers and comments by or on behalf of the Deciding Officer on the grounds of appeal be sought. When received, the case will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Back to Work Allowance Appeals (11 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 in this case on 24 June 2013. The person concerned is being notified of the arrangements for the hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions Reform (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: The State pension is a very valuable asset and it is important, for sustainability reasons, that those who receive it have made a significant contribution towards it during a working life. Ordinarily, in order to qualify for a State pension (contributory), a person must satisfy a number of qualifying conditions which include commencing insurable employment at least 10 years before pension...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobseeker's Benefit Eligibility (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: Jobseeker's benefit is a weekly payment to people out of work and covered by social insurance (PRSI). If a person does not qualify for jobseeker’s benefit they may qualify for means tested jobseeker's allowance. In 2012 my Department spent some €737m on the scheme and at the end of 2012 there were some 85,000 persons in receipt of a jobseeker’s benefit payment. The...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (11 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 in this case. Every effort will be made to hear the case as quickly as possible and the appellant will be informed when arrangements have been made. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Carer's Allowance Eligibility (11 Jun 2013)

Joan Burton: This application for carer's allowance was disallowed on the 22nd of March 2013. The additional information supplied with your question is being reviewed by a deciding officer. Once processed, the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Eligibility (11 Jun 2013)

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. Currently, there are approximately 86,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (11 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 20th March 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 case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Eligibility (11 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 programmes. ...