asked the Minister for Social Welfare if a new employment office will be opened in Mallow, County Cork, due to the severe overcrowding and lengthy queues occurring there at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Mallow New Employment Office.
69.
The Department's office in Mallow is run by a branch manager who provides office accommodation and staffing under contract.
Following a review in 1986, revised arrangements providing for signing and payment on Thursday afternoons were introduced to alleviate pressure at signing-on times. The signing hours prior to that were confined to Thursday and Friday mornings. With the revised arrangements, the premises and staffing of the office are regarded as adequate to cater for the approximately 600 claimants attending at the office.
Each claimant is allotted a specific signing time which is designed to ensure uniform attendance over phased intervals on their respective signing days but many claimants arrive at the office in advance of their signing time and queue outside. Queueing could be avoided if claimants attended at their designated signing times.