asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware that there are upwards of 500 persons in the Mitchelstown district claiming unemployment assistance; that many of them are obliged to travel 16 miles to Fermoy Employment Exchange to lodge their claims and obtain payment of the benefit to which they are entitled; whether he is aware that many of these claimants are obliged to travel this distance on foot and whether, having regard to the hardship to which they are thus exposed, he is prepared to approve the establishment of a branch exchange at Mitchelstown.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Assistance Claims.
Unless I had the names of the townlands in the area which the Deputy describes as the "Mitchelstown district" I could not say how many persons in that district are claiming unemployment assistance.
The frequency with which applicants for unemployment assistance are required personally to attend at a local office of my Department, or whether they need attend at all, depends upon the distances at which they reside from the nearest local office. The rules are that applicants residing within two miles of the local office must, in order to prove unemployment and to receive payment, attend daily; those resident between two and four miles distant must for the same purposes attend on alternate days; applicants residing between four and six miles are required to attend only once a week, whilst those residing more than six miles distant are not required to attend at all, arrangements being in operation by which they may make their applications, prove unemployment and receive payment through the post. I am not convinced that under the existing arrangements applicants resident in the district mentioned in the Deputy's question are exposed to the hardships suggested.