I propose to take Questions Nos. 476 and 477 together.
Social welfare legislation provides that in order to be entitled to unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance a person must satisfy the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking work. A person who fails to satisfy these conditions on an ongoing basis is not entitled to an unemployment payment. It is accepted that periods of unemployment are a normal feature of the dancing and choreography professions and people in those professions can qualify for payment when they are out of work. Where a person is seeking work in his or her usual employment, he or she would normally satisfy the conditions for receipt of payment, provided there is a reasonable prospect of securing work of that nature. However, in situations where it is clear that there is no employment available in a specialised field within a reasonable period, the unemployed person is expected to broaden his or her search to include other types of employment. The application of these conditions is the same for members of the artistic professions as for other claimants for unemployment payments.
Where a person is dissatisfied with a decision to refuse him or her an unemployment payment, he or she may appeal the decision to the social welfare appeals office.