Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 November 2017
216. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the rules that apply in relation to the eligibility of persons that are retained fire fighters for jobseeker's benefit and allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48290/17]
View answer217. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will review correspondence from a person (details supplied); the measures in place to financially support retained fire fighters that cannot secure full time employment due to their commitments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48326/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together.
Retained (part-time) fire-fighters, provide services which are vitally important to their communities. Typically, these workers provide services in rural and less densely populated areas but larger urban centres may also have a cohort of part-time workers.
I note the information the Deputy has supplied in relation to a particular individual and the difficulty that person has had in finding full time employment.
Retained fire-fighters who are otherwise unemployed are entitled to a jobseeker’s payment in respect of days that they are engaged in fire-fighting or training, subject to the usual qualification conditions in relation to means or social insurance contributions. They are, also required to satisfy the statutory conditions for the receipt of a jobseeker’s payment of being available for and genuinely seeking full time work. Any person who fails to satisfy these conditions is not entitled to a jobseeker’s payment.
Taking account of the unusual circumstances of retained fire personnel the Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 carried amendments to both jobseeker’s benefit and jobseeker’s allowance that put the treatment of retained fire fighters on a legislative basis. These amendments were introduced with particular regard to the vital service provided by this group, particularly in rural communities where the fire service is almost exclusively staffed by retained personnel.
This legislation provided that when a retained fire fighter is on call this will not result in a disallowance for a jobseeker’s payment on grounds of availability. It also provides that retained fire fighters are exempt from suffering a loss of a day of jobseeker’s payment for any day of firefighting employment. Finally, the legislation also provides an exemption for retained fire fighters from having to satisfy the substantial loss of employment condition under jobseeker’s benefit.
The legislation and associated regulations outlined above allow retained fire-fighters a reasonable and fair level of access to the jobseeker schemes given the unique circumstances of the service they provide their communities.
