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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Mar 2001

Vol. 532 No. 2

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Question:

173 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will make special provision to allow school wardens, mostly women, to be eligible to claim unemployment benefit during that period of the year when they are effectively unable to provide the school warden service; if he can guarantee that such persons will be able to claim unemployment benefit in 2001. [7015/01]

Social welfare legislation provides that a person must satisfy the conditions of being available for full-time work and genuinely seeking work in order to be entitled to unemployment benefit or assistance. The relevant legislation specifies the circumstances in which a person is, or is not, deemed to be available for full-time work and genuinely seeking employment.

Comprehensive guidelines on the application of the availability and genuinely seeking work conditions for entitlement to unemployment payments are made available to deciding officers and to the general public, on request. These guidelines are designed to ensure that the conditions for receipt of unemployment payments are applied in a uniform and consistent manner.

In applying the legislation in any case, deciding officers have regard to the availability of job vacancies in the locality and to the extent to which a claimant has sought to take advantage of the labour market opportunities which exist. Any person who fails to satisfy the deciding officer that he or she is available for full-time employment and genuinely seeking work is not entitled to an unemployment payment. School wardens are expected to meet the same requirements as other claimants in that regard.

The introduction of special arrangements exempting school wardens from the requirements to fulfil the statutory conditions of being available for full-time work and genuinely seeking work for entitlement to unemployment benefit or assistance would raise equity issues vis-à-vis other claimants to unemployment payments. I have no plans at the present time to make any changes to the relevant legislation.

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