asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state what arrangements have been made to see that unemployment insurance payment or its equivalent will be paid to railway workers who have been disemployed recently owing to the special cessation of train services, and who, because of the fact that they were regarded as being on the permanent staff or had three years completed service, were excluded from the unemployment insurance scheme and debarred from paying unemployment contributions.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Disemployed Railway Workers.
Certificates of exception excluding certain classes of railway workers from the scope of the Unemployment Insurance Acts were granted only with the consent of the workers concerned or their trade union representatives. Persons so excepted and any others who cannot satisfy the contributory conditions of these Acts are free, if unemployed, to apply for unemployment assistance.