asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider altering the regulations governing the allocation of relief work to unemployed persons, to permit of the employment of any unemployed man fit and able to work.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Relief Work Regulations.
It is a reasonable assumption that an unemployed man fit and able to work will avail himself of the facilities placed at his disposal by registering at the local employment offices and will, accordingly, be included in the "live register". The live register of persons seeking employment is divided into (a) claimants to unemployment benefit; (b) applicants for unemployment assistance; and (c) others—i.e., persons who are not claiming either unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance, and are registering for the purpose of obtaining work. This last category is relatively very small.
Unemployment benefit is payable only for a limited period, and is intended to tide workers over relatively short periods of interruption of employment. Recipients of unemployment assistance, on the other hand, may have been unemployed for relatively long periods, and may include persons who have exhausted their right to unemployment benefit. For this reason, and also because the rates of unemployment benefit are higher than the unemployment assistance rates, the unemployment assistance recipients must be regarded as the most necessitous group among those registering for work at the employment offices.
It is not proposed to make any alteration on the lines suggested by the Deputy in the regulations governing the recruitment of workers for employment schemes, as such alteration would only reduce the amount of employment available for unemployment assistance recipients.