asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline his Department's policy regarding the number of times a recipient of unemployment payments must sign on at the local employment exchange; and if he has satisfied himself that this policy is being applied equitably in different areas of the country.
Written Answers. - Unemployment Payments Policy.
358.
The requirement that claimants to unemployment benefit and assistance must attend at a local office or other signing centre to sign the register as evidence of unemployment is governed by regulations which require attendance on every working day but permit arrangements for less frequent signing for persons living more than two miles away or in other exceptional circumstances. Departmental policy in implementing the regulations is based on the minimum attendance necessary consistent with maintaining proper control of claims while at the same time taking account of any hardship which might be caused to claimants.
The frequency of signing depends on the distance a claimant lives from an exchange or local office. Generally speaking, daily attendance is required of persons living within a two-mile radius. All other claimants within a range of six miles attend either once or twice a week. However, whenever special factors occur, such as a sudden local increase in the live register which would be likely to cause hardship in queueing or to impair the service, authorisation is given for a relaxation in the general signing arrangements as local circumstances require. I might mention here that in the case of persons over 65 who were required to attend only once a week I recently arranged that they should be given the option of attending once every four weeks.
I am satisfied that these arrangements generally operate in a satisfactory and equitable manner.