asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is yet in a position to state when the Unemployment Assistance Act, 1933, will be put into operation and when payments to unemployed persons under the Act are likely to be made.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - The Unemployment Assistance Act.
Before the Unemployment Assistance Act can be put into operation, it is necessary to provide suitable offices at various centres and to arrange for their equipment and staffing, and large quantities of forms have to be prepared and printed. The staff of my Department are endeavouring to have all the necessary arrangements completed at the earliest possible date and I hope to be able to appoint the 1st March next as the date from which so much of the Act as authorises persons to apply for qualification certificates will come into operation.
The taking of applications for qualification certificates, and the issue or refusal of such certificates, necessarily preliminary to the payment of unemployment assistance, will be a task of considerable dimensions, and I hope that the progress of this work will enable me to appoint an early date in April as the date from which so much of the Act as authorises persons to apply for unemployment assistance will come into operation.
Is the Minister aware that £448,000 were withheld from local bodies in the beginning of last year and they were told that assistance would be given during the year that would relieve local bodies of a considerable amount of money that would ordinarily be spent on home assistance? Is the position now that none of that money is going to be made available before the end of the financial year?
There appears to be a number of separate questions contained in that supplementary.
The questions raised by the Deputy are separate questions.