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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 8 Feb 1939

Vol. 74 No. 1

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Assistance Vouchers.

asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that vouchers issued to claimants under the Unemployment Assistance Acts, although received by unemployed persons on Saturday, will not be paid by the post office until the following Monday; and, whether, in view of the great hardship which this arrangement inflicts on unemployed men with dependents he will take steps to ensure that cash will be paid on Saturday.

I refer the Deputy to my reply to Deputy McGowan's question on this subject on the 15th December, 1937.

Applicants for unemployment assistance who reside over six miles from a local office of my Department are not required to attend at the office. They are dealt with through the post, and for their convenience arrangements have been made to enable them to be paid at the post offices most convenient to their homes. The earliest day on which the necessary advices and money can be made available at such post offices is the Monday following the Saturday on which applicants receive their notifications. Many applicants do not apply for payment until Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the payments are available at regular weekly intervals.

Could not the payments be made as well on the Saturday as on the following Monday? This inflicts hardship on these people, as a man may be expecting to get the money on a Saturday.

So long as the payments are made regularly and in time to enable the man to clear his bills, I do not see that it makes any difference.

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