asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether instructions were issued to employment exchanges and branch employment offices on February 6th to the effect that all applicants for unemployment assistance should be subject to a special investigation both by the Gárda Síochána and the officials of the Department; whether the work of investigation in the case of employment exchanges has been delegated to subordinate officials, and in the case of branch exchanges to the branch manager; and whether it has been indicated to branch managers, that they are not authorised to incur travelling or subsistence expenses in connection with the work of investigation; and, if so, whether he has taken into account the small allowances paid to branch managers and the hardship which will be inflicted upon them by requiring them to visit at their own expense the homes of applicants for unemployment assistance where the applicants reside considerable distances from the branch office.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Application for Unemployment Assistance.
The title of applicants to receive or continue to receive unemployment assistance must be examined from time to time and it is part of the normal duty of the local officers of my Department to make the necessary investigation of claims; the latest instruction on the subject issued to those officers is dated the 6th February, 1936. In the case of employment exchanges, the work of investigation, in so far as it cannot be undertaken by the officers in charge, may be delegated to other suitable permanent officers. Branch managers are required to undertake the work personally but they are instructed that cases which cannot be investigated by them without incurring expense should be brought to the notice of the manager of the appropriate employment exchange who will make any necessary arrangements. Branch managers are, therefore, not required to undertake any investigation involving expense and no question of hardship arises.