asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether any payments have yet been made under the new Unemployment Insurance Act, and how soon the new scheme of payments will be in general operation.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PAYMENTS.
TOMAS MAC EOIN
It was possible to make payment of benefit under the 1924 Act in some very urgent cases in Dublin last Friday. At Cobh all benefit payable under the 1924 Act up to the previous Wednesday, was paid last Saturday. Payment of all benefit due to date under the new Act is being made to-day at Tralee, Killarney, Dun Laoghaire, Limerick, Drogheda, Carlow and Passage West, and payment will be made everywhere in very urgent cases. All payments due under the new Act up to and for next Wednesday will be made at all the local offices of the Department next Friday.
I should like to add that in anticipation of the Bill becoming law, the local officers of the Ministry have been exceedingly busy in preparing claims and taking evidence of unemployment from those who had claimed since the last week in June, so that retrospective payment could be made to those entitled to it after the Bill finally passed into law. It was only last Friday evening that the Bill received the assent of the Governor-General. Some time must necessarily be occupied in authorising and computing claims to benefit and in performing other operations in connection with those claims which could not have been performed in advance of the legal authority conferred by the Act.
It must not be supposed that there has been any week in which benefit has not been paid. Those claimants who had not exhausted all the benefit authorised on the claims they had in the Second Benefit Year and who, therefore, had rights independent of the 1924 Act, have continued to receive their benefit week by week.