asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will arrange to have the regulations changed whereby people in agricultural employment and domestic service do not qualify for unemployment benefit until ten years have elapsed from the date of their entry into insurance, as the present arrangement appears to be unjust.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Benefit Scheme.
58.
Presumably the question is intended to refer to women employed in agriculture or private domestic service, since these are the only people in agricultural employment and in domestic service who are affected by the regulations referred to.
Up to 1966 such women were not insured against unemployment but since then they are covered for unemployment benefit at a special reduced rate of contribution and subject to an additional contribution condition which modifies the general scheme of unemployment benefit to meet their particular needs. The additional condition requires that the claimant be in social insurance for at least ten years and that she satisfies a yearly average test, related to her age, of contributions paid during that period. The test requires a yearly average of paid contributions of (a) 40 where the claimant's age is up to 30 years; (b) 35 for the age bracket 30 to 50 years; and (c) 30 where age is from 50 to 65 years.
The additional condition does not apply if a woman is more than 65 years or if she has changed from private domestic or agricultural employment and has become regularly engaged in another occupation than those and 26 contributions reckonable for unemployment benefit have been paid in respect of her since she changed her occupation.
The 1966 legislation constitutes a considerable advance in that it provides cover for unemployment benefit to those older persons in the types of employment mentioned who are most likely to need it, while requiring only a modest increase in the contribution rate in their cases. In the circumstances I do not accept the Deputy's suggestion that the present arrangement is unjust and I do not propose to alter the position.
Would the Minister not accept that the present regulations discriminate against domestic employees and surely he cannot but agree that it is unfair and unjust to have regulations, like those which have been detailed by the Minister in his statement, for domestic employees and which must be complied with in order to qualify for employment benefit? A domestic employee should be treated in the same way as any other type of employee, such as a factory worker or a shop assistant. Why discriminate against domestic employees? Everyone knows that they were discriminated against for long enough. It is now about time to take them out of bondage. The Minister should act. If he is incapable of acting, I would ask the Taoiseach to take note of the position in so far as the welfare insurance regulations apply to domestic employees.
Would the Minister agree that on account of the attitude shown here by his answer in this House today it is now more necessary than ever to have a restructuring of our social welfare code? I have been appealing for this for four or five years.