This is a Bill which, I hope, the Seanad will agree to pass through all its stages. It is designed to implement an agreement with the British Government which has already been the subject of legislation passed by the British Parliament.
I think Senators are familiar with the purpose of the Bill. At various times during previous years we have approached the British authorities with a view to securing an arrangement for the payment of unemployment insurance benefit in respect of contributions paid in one country to the workers concerned when unemployed and resident in the other country. Arising out of the most recent approach upon that question to the British authorities, there emerged a suggestion from them that we should make an arrangement covering persons ordinarily resident here who had served in the British forces during the war. The British demobilisation scheme, like our own, involved placing demobilised soldiers in full benefit in their unemployment insurance fund, but their law, like our own, prohibited the payment of unemployment insurance benefit to persons resident outside their territory. We agreed to assist them in carrying through the arrangement for the benefit of these men. The arrangement is briefly this, that we will pay, through our Exchange, to persons qualified to receive British unemployment insurance benefit because of service with the British forces, the equivalent amount of benefit which they would receive if resident in Great Britain and the British will make good the cost to us. That arrangement will be of immediate benefit to some unknown number of men who served in the British forces during the war, who returned to this country and who are unemployed here.
It will be understood that the normal machinery for unemployment insurance in this country will operate; the same tests of eligibility for benefit will be applied by the same officers, with the same right of appeal to the courts of referees or, in certain circumstances, to the umpire. The possibility of a wider and more permanent arrangement covering civilian workers was raised and it is contemplated that discussions on an arrangement of that character will be begun in the near future. The British Government recently passed the National Insurance Act, which empowers them to enter into reciprocal arrangements of that character. The relevant part of that Act will not be brought into force until 1948, but, prior to its coming into force in Great Britain, it is hoped discussions will reveal the possibility of a permanent reciprocal arrangement which we would welcome. If such arrangement could be made, we shall be prepared to implement it by legislation here.
I mentioned that the British demobilisation scheme was similar to our own and their law prohibiting the payment of benefit to persons resident outside their territory was similar to the law enforced here. Soldiers serving in our forces during the war were also placed in the unemployment insurance fund. Those of them permanently resident in Northern Ireland were not entitled to draw benefit because they were resident outside our territory. Instead of making a reciprocal arrangement for the payment of benefit to those ex-soldiers of the Irish forces, similar to that which applied to ex-soldiers of the British forces, we have decided to pay them benefit. The number of such men unemployed at present is so small that a formal arrangement was not considered necessary. As a matter of fact, not more than one dozen people have claimed benefit on the grounds that they were entitled to benefit from our fund but were debarred on the one point of residence outside our territory.
We are making in this Bill the necessary provisions to entitle us to continue to pay benefit to these men even though they are resident outside our territory. Certain consequential arrangements are necessary to make sure that the right to benefit is not made inoperative by reason of the fact that no contributions were paid into the fund during the period since these men were demobilised. A man is not entitled to benefit even though he has contributions to credit unless he has had a certain period of employment in each year. We are getting over that by the introduction of certain provisions. Men who served in the British forces and who came back here and are unemployed will be able to get benefit through our employment exchanges at the rates applicable in Great Britain and at the expense of the British Unemployment Insurance Fund. Men who served in our forces and who are resident outside our territory and unemployed will be able to get benefit from our fund paid direct by our unemployment insurance authorities to them as long as they are unemployed.