asked the Minister for Social Welfare if insured persons who have satisfied the appropriate contribution conditions and who (a) were members and (b) were not members of the trade unions involved in the oil distribution dispute, and who were laid off as a direct or indirect result of a shortage of oil, are entitled to unemployment benefit; and if he will make a statement on the effect of this dispute on the payment of unemployment benefit to persons who were laid off as a result of the shortage of oil in industry.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Oil Distribution Dispute: Payment of Unemployment Benefit.
3.
In the case referred to by the Deputy, as in any trade dispute, the only persons disqualified by law from receiving unemployment benefit on the ground that they lost their employment owing to a stoppage of work are those who were employed at the premises or places at which the dispute took place. The law does not provide that membership of a trade union is a factor to be taken into consideration in determining title to unemployment benefit.