Results 19,621-19,640 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Seanad: OECD Review of Irish Pensions System: Statements (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank the Senators for their thoughtful and incisive contributions. I wish to stress that the OECD report is quite positive about Ireland, in the sense that we have quite a good and strong universal retirement pension system through the State. One of the features of it is that if somebody has made contributions, they qualify. However, as Senator Moloney said, very often people have a...

Seanad: OECD Review of Irish Pensions System: Statements (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: I thank the Acting Chairman and the Seanad for the invitation to speak about the OECD pensions report and give Senators some background information on it. Secure and adequate finances are one of the fundamental components of a happy and active retirement. The sustainability of the pensions system is a particular concern. The demographics, or population bonuses, Ireland has mean we have...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Youth Guarantee (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: Under the EU Commission’s recent call for proposals for preparatory actions under the 'Youth Guarantee', the Department of Social Protection in conjunction with local groups has sought EU funding to pilot a Youth Guarantee Scheme in a local area. The pilot YGS will look to develop an activation approach tailored to the needs of young people in a deprived urban area and then test it...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: PRSI credited contributions are an integral part of the social insurance system. For the most part they are linked to having an underlying entitlement to a social welfare payment while temporarily detached from the labour force or having entitlement to statutory leave e.g. parental or maternity leave. The primary purpose of PRSI credits is to secure social welfare benefits and pensions of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 29th 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 case in question will be referred to an Appeals Officer who will make a...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Funding (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Money Advice and Budgeting Service ( MABS), under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board, provides a high quality personal service to assist people who are over-indebted and need help and advice in coping with debt problems, in particular those on low incomes and people living on social welfare payments. Responsibility for MABS transferred to the Citizens Information Board (CIB) in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 13th 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: Social Welfare Appeals Status (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal, by the person concerned, was registered in that office on 27th March 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...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: Payment of illness benefit to the person concerned was disallowed by a Deciding Officer following an examination by a Medical Assessor of the Department, who expressed the opinion that he was capable of work. An appeal was registered on 3rd April 2013 and the Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that, in accordance with statutory requirements, the Department was asked for the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Family Income Supplement Eligibility (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Family Income Supplement (FIS) payment is designed to provide cash income for employees with families who are on low earnings. Once the level of FIS payment is determined, it continues to be payable at that rate for a period of 52 weeks, provided that the person remains in full-time employment. However, the rate of payment will not change if there is an increase or decrease in the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was registered in that office on 13th March 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 01st May...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received from the person concerned on 9 April 2013. This application has been forwarded to one of the Department’s Medical Assessors for their medical opinion. Upon receipt of this opinion, a decision will issue to the person concerned. It can take up to 8 weeks to process an application for DCA.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Reviews (15 May 2013)

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

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned was refused jobseeker’s benefit by a Deciding Officer of the Department on the grounds that he was not available for full-time work and was not genuinely seeking full-time employment. The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned together with the relevant Departmental papers were received by that office on 03 May 2013...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The person’s claim is with the deciding officer for review and she will be notified shortly in writing of the outcome.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Expenditure (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The extent to which my Department has been involved in litigation at the Courts of Justice of the European Union or the European Court of Human Rights is very limited. During the period in question my Department was represented at two cases; one in relation to a referral from the Irish Courts and one where Ireland was intervening in a case in which we had an interest in the decision of the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Invalidity Pension Application Numbers (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: A breakdown of invalidity claims awarded and disallowed is not available from December 2010 - 2011. A dual payments system was in operation from December 2010 until all claims were migrated onto a new computer platform in May 2011. INVALIDITY PENSION CLAIMS Year Received Awarded Disallowed Total Decided 2008 7757 5431 2165 7596 2009 7475 4580 2933 7513 2010 8774 3445* 3411* 7614 2011...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Rates (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The importance of child and family income supports is underlined by the fact that in 2013 my Department will spend over €2.8 billion on supports to families and children through payments such as Child Benefit, the Family Income Supplement, qualified child increases on weekly social welfare payments, and the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance. This accounts for...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Benefits Eligibility (15 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused on medical grounds and the person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 8 February 2013. The person submitted further medical evidence in support of her claim and a review of her application is underway. Once a decision is made on this review the person will be notified of the outcome.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Work Initiatives (14 May 2013)

Joan Burton: Sections 472A and 88A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provide tax incentives for both employers and employees, to help the long-term unemployed to return to employment. The relief under Section 472A, known as the Revenue Job Assist scheme, allows qualifying employees, in addition to their normal tax credits, to claim certain income deductions, including additional deductions for...