asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he is aware that workers in Kerry are being pressed to go to work in the bogs of Kildare and, in the event of their not going, are deprived of their right to unemployment assistance; and, if so, whether steps will be taken to provide those workers with employment on schemes of bog development at home in Kerry.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Kerry Workers and Employment Offers.
Workers are not being pressed to go to work in the bogs of Kildare. Unemployment assistance recipients refusing this type of work are, if it is considered suitable for them, refused further, payment of unemployment assistance, as would any other worker refusing an offer of suitable employment. The Deputy is, of course, aware that a condition to be satisfied for the payment of unemployment assistance is that the applicant be genuinely seeking but unable to obtain suitable employment. A worker aggrieved by refusal has a right of appeal to a Court of Referees.
The provision of employment on bog development schemes does not come within the functions of my Department.
Is the Minister aware that there are cases in Kerry in which people are being compelled to go to Kildare to work in bogs, and when they find themselves unable to do this, they are deprived of their unemployment assistance? Is he aware that there are even single men who have family ties and responsibilities which they cannot shed without creating hardship? Is he aware that there are bogs in Kerry to be developed and that it would be much more sensible and equitable to provide work for the unemployed in these bogs than to send them 150 or 200 miles away? Is he aware that at present Bord na Móna are removing machinery from bogs near Listowel and Cahireiveen? Will the unemployed people of Kerry be compelled to follow the machinery and, if they are unable to take up work in bogs outside Kerry, will they be deprived of unemployment assistance?
I have explained to the Deputy that it is not the function of my Department to deal with the development of bog schemes. Any question which the Deputy desires to ask in that respect must be addressed to the Minister for Industry and Commerce, who is concerned with the development of bog schemes. With regard to the other point raised by the Deputy, let me say definitely that no body in Kerry can be compelled to work in Kildare or anywhere else if he does not want to work there.
They are being deprived of their right to unemployment assistance.
I want to give the Deputy an answer to his previous question. He can ask further supplementaries if he wishes. I say to the Deputy that nobody in Kerry can be compelled to work in Kildare or anywhere else if he does not want to work there. It is a condition of the receipt of unemployment assistance benefit that a person must be available for work and genuinely seeking work. If, therefore, an offer of work is made to an unemployed man in Kerry, he has to satisfy that condition. If he refuses to take the work that is available for him, he is then refused unemployment assistance benefit if it is considered that the work is suitable for him and that his domestic circumstances do not prevent him from taking up that employment. But if benefit is refused in these circumstances, that person has a right to appeal to a Court of Referees, and if that Court of Referees, after hearing the case, are satisfied that it is not reasonable to expect a person living in Kerry to take up employment in Kildare or elsewhere, the Court have full power to restore the unemployment assistance benefit in his case. I do not come into the matter at all. The Court of Referees have full power to decide whether or not benefit will be paid. If the Deputy has in mind any person who he thinks has been unfairly treated by being offered employment in Kildare or elsewhere, there is a simple remedy—to go to the Court of Referees, which consists of representatives of employers and workers with an independent and neutral chairman not responsible to me in any way.