Results 121-140 of 288 for 5 million speaker:Joan Burton

Social Welfare Bill 2014: Second Stage (6 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: ...point, the deficit was 32%. It is incredible to contemplate the level of indebtedness that existed six years ago. The main social protection measures contained in this Bill are an increase of €5 a month per child in child benefit from January 2015; a new back to work family dividend scheme to help people back to work; support for water services for certain social welfare...

Other Questions: Water Charges Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: The Department of Social Protection will spend €230 million this year on the household benefits package for almost 415,000 customers. The fuel allowance is paid for 26 weeks from October to April to almost 415,000 households, at an estimated cost of €208 million in 2014. That means well over €430 million will be spent between the two schemes in 2014. I announced in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (4 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: The Social Inclusion Monitor, the official report on progress on poverty using national and EU indicators, reports that the rate of consistent poverty for children in 2012 was 9.9 per cent or 115,000 children. This compares with an average of 8.7 per cent for the years preceding the crisis (2005-2008) or 91,000 children. Using the at-risk-of-poverty measure, 18.8 per cent of children were in...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Insurance (4 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: ..., removal of entitlement to concurrent social insurance payments, increases in pension age as well as major reductions in entitlements under the treatment benefits and redundancy payments schemes. The 2015 Budget Estimate has provided for the Exchequer Subvention to fall to €248 million in 2015. The sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund is driven by:i. Social Insurance Fund...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (4 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: Child benefit is a monthly payment to assist with the costs associated with raising children. It is paid to more than 600,000 families in respect of almost 1.2 million children, with an estimated expenditure of around €1.9 billion in 2014. It is paid in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years in line with the statutory school attendance age. The payment continues to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (4 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: .... The Social Inclusion Monitor, the official report on progress on poverty using national and EU indicators, reports that the rate of consistent poverty for children in 2012 was 9.9 per cent or 115,000 children. This compares with an average of 8.7 per cent for the years preceding the crisis (2005-2008) or 91,000 children. Using the at-risk-of-poverty measure, 18.8 per cent of children...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Administration (21 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: Child benefit is a universal payment made to families with children. It assists those families with the cost associated with raising children. It is paid to almost 1.2 million children in over 600,000 families. The estimated expenditure in 2014 will be €1.9 billion. The cost of the administration of the scheme is in the order of €7.5 million per annum. The Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Eligibility (21 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: Child benefit is a monthly payment to assist with the costs associated with raising children. It is paid to around 604,000 families in respect of some 1.15 million children, with an estimated expenditure of around €1.9 billion in 2014. It is paid in respect of all qualified children up to the age of 16 years in line with the statutory school attendance age. The payment continues to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Budget 2015 (21 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: I announced, on Budget Day, a number of welfare initiatives costing €198 million. These measures have four key objectives, as follows: - Assisting unemployed families to return to work by providing continued financial support; - Helping all families in the State with the cost of raising children; - Recognising the additional pressures on pensioners and people with disabilities who...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Payments (21 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 and 196 together. The recent Budget provided for an increase in child benefit of €5 per month per child with effect from January next and this increase brings the monthly rate to €135. The rate payable in respect of each twin will continue to be one and a half times the normal monthly rate while families with multiple births will also...

Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: In regard to my concerns about families who are on low incomes or are unemployed, the budget contains €200 million of spending. I am happy to say this includes the restoration of the Christmas bonus on a partial basis and the payment to the kinds of family to which Deputy McDonald referred, and all the other families in Ireland, of a small but significant sum of €5 per month in...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Financial Resolution No. 3: General (Resumed) (15 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: ...of living. We will not do anything to imperil the recovery. The Government will continue to do what is right for Irish families. There will be no return to the recklessness of the past. The 2015 budget is built on the foundations of economic recovery. It is crafted to sustain that recovery and to broaden it out so that it nurtures both social and economic renewal. It is a fair and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Agencies (30 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: ...and decides complaints and disputes from individuals about their occupational pension schemes, Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) and Trust RACs. 6 Established 2 Contracted €1,005,000 €1,080,000 28 April 2003 The Pensions Acts 1990 to 2014 The Citizens Information Board (CIB) The CIB is the statutory body responsible for supporting the provision of information,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Expenditure (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: ...an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 73,800 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014. The cost of increasing payments under the rent supplement scheme by 5% for recipients in the three counties of Dublin, Cork and Galway would be in the region of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Review of Vote 37: Minister for Social Protection (17 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: ...are some external inputs into the software systems, but I can get the Deputy more detail. Significantly, it is an Irish operation. It has gone quite well so far. In November, we will reach 1 million cards. The cards have hugely increased security. The use of the biometric photo means that when someone gets a card, their photograph is automatically matched with all of the photographs...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payments (15 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: ...(OFP) has played an important role in providing income support to lone parents since its introduction in 1997. The number of OFP recipients stood at 74,426 in June, 2014, and an estimated €863 million will be spent on the scheme during 2014. The OFP scheme is in the process of being reformed. These reforms are reducing on a phased basis, the maximum age limit of the youngest...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Community Employment Schemes Data (9 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: ...were started and completed by CE participants. Table 1 shows the award level of these components of learning accredited by FETAC. Fifty eight per cent (7,622) minor awards were at FETAC Level 5, a further 22 per cent (2,849) minor awards were at Level 4 and 12 per cent (1,578) were at Level 3. There were 5% minor awards at Level 6. The remaining 1 per cent of awards are at FETAC Level 1,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Farm Assist Scheme Data (8 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: ...‘Smallholders Unemployment Assistance’ for low income farmers, without the requirement to be available for and genuinely seeking work. This year the Department will spend approximately €91.6 million on the farm assist scheme and it is expected that an average of 9,900 individuals will be in receipt of this payment each week. Recent changes to the scheme have brought...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Budgets (1 Jul 2014)

Joan Burton: ...savings in 2014 and in a full year of the measures for the Department of Social Protection contained in the Expenditure Report 2014 are outlined in the table below. Measure 2014 Savings (€ million) Full year (€ million) Recovery of social welfare payments – Recover the value of certain social welfare payments from compensation awards made to persons in relation...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2014: Second Stage (26 Jun 2014)

Joan Burton: ...focused on transforming the Department from a passive benefits provider to an active and engaged public employment service. That work is paying off. The live register is down from a previous peak of 15.1% to 11.8% now. Every 10,000 reduction in the numbers of people on the live register saves approximately €95 million in the social welfare bill. Getting people back to work is the...