asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will state how persons registered at an employment exchange are selected for notification for attendance for work under minor relief schemes and if in such selection there is any priority given to married as against single men and to landless men as against men with land.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Minor Relief Schemes Employment.
I should, perhaps, point out, in the first instance, that my Department's functions in connection with the provision of workers for minor employment schemes are limited to the submission by its local officers of names of apparently suitable men. The names are listed in the order of the men's rates of unemployment assistance, and the selection from these lists of the workers to be employed is a matter for the employing authority.
The order in which names appear in the lists submitted by my Department is not directly based on whether or not a man is married or is the owner or occupier of land, but an applicant's means and the number of his dependents affect the rate of unemployment assistance payable, and to that extent the factors mentioned reflect the circumstances of the applicants on the lists submitted.