asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if his attention has been drawn to a number of applications for unemployment benefit in County Clare, which have been rejected on the grounds that the applicants were not unable to obtain employment, and whether these decisions were reached because the applicants held small patches of mountain, the valuation on which ranged from £1 to £5 per year; and whether he is aware that these applicants have been in the employment of the Clare County Council for some eight or ten years, and have always to depend on their wages as a livelihood, and whether he is prepared to have all these cases reconsidered and a decision arrived at as to their benefit rights.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - APPLICATIONS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT.
All claims to unemployment benefit must be determined in accordance with Section 11 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, which lays down the procedure. A claimant whose claim is disallowed is always notified of the ground on which the claim is disallowed, and he is given every opportunity to avail himself of the right of appeal given to him by the Statute.
The applicants to whom the question refers are not identified, and without specific cases I cannot express any opinion about their claims. It is, however, open to any applicant dissatisfied with the decision on his claim to appeal against it to the Court of Referees or Umpire, and that is the course which should be taken in these cases if it is desired to have them reconsidered.