asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state how many claims for qualification certificates under the Unemployment Assistance Act, 1933, have been lodged in County Cavan; how many have been dealt with; what is the cause of the delay in dealing with the remainder; and if he will take immediate steps to expedite the examination of pending claims and so enable payments under the Act to be made without delay to such claimants as well as to claimants elsewhere.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Qualification Certificates.
Figures for County Cavan are not compiled separately. A total of 4,500 applications for qualification certificates were made at the three local offices of my Department which are situated in County Cavan between 1st March, 1934—the first date on which a person could apply for a qualification certificate—and the 5th May, 1934, the latest date for which statistics are at present available. Of these 4,181 showed that the applicants possessed some means within the meaning of Section 13 of the Act and investigation and calculation of the value of such means is required in each case. A total of 971 of these applications have been decided, qualification certificates being issued in 821 cases and refused in 150 cases.
The determination of the question whether or not applicants for qualification certificates fulfil the statutory conditions for the receipt of such certificates necessitates a full examination of all the relevant circumstances of the applicants and in the cases of applicants who possess means within the meaning of Section 13 of the Act the calculation and determination of the yearly value of such means take considerable time. There has been no avoidable delay in dealing with applications and every effort is being made to dispose of them as rapidly as possible.