asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he is prepared to make arrangements for persons in receipt of unemployment assistance in the Gneeveguilla-Tooreencahill-Leamyglissane areas in County Kerry, some of whom travel a distance of seven miles to sign weekly, to sign in Gneeveguilla in the future.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Assistance.
50.
I am having the adequacy of the existing signing-arrangements for unemployment assistance recipients in the areas mentioned in the Question examined and I shall let the Deputy know my decision in the matter in due course.
Would the Minister be good enough to mention the places in question as we would all love to hear how they are pronounced?
I would not even attempt to do so without notice.
51.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state, in respect of small farmers in receipt of unemployment assistance, the hours each week between which the recipients must sign at the various centres; and whether he is prepared to bring forward the commencing time to 9.00 a.m. during the period 1st April to 30th September each year.
Because of distance from their local office, the majority of smallholder recipients of unemployment assistance attend once weekly to declare unemployment at a Garda station or at a special signing-centre and subsequently are paid through the post. There are no generally-applicable hours of attendance in these postal cases and it will be appreciated that it would not be practicable to have uniform hours of attendance for every Garda station and special signing-centre because account must be taken of local conditions and the feasibility of the arrangements from the point of view of the Garda. Recipients living within six miles of their local office attend there both for signing and payment purposes. If the Deputy can furnish me with evidence of undue hardship or inconvenience resulting from the timing of attendances at any particular place, I will see, in consultation with the Garda authorities, what can be done to meet the situation.