asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state the approximate amount of unemployment assistance saved by his Department as a result of the extension of the Unemployment Period Orders this year.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Saving in Unemployment Assistance.
The extent to which there would have been additional applications for, and payment of, unemployment assistance, if the employment periods had terminated earlier this year, is not known.
However, the total amount of unemployment assistance paid for the last two weeks for which the Employment Period Orders operated this year was £44,523, as against £51,644 for the corresponding weeks of last year, but the difference is also to some extent due to the fact that the number of persons in receipt of unemployment assistance continues to be lower than last year.