asked the Minister for Social Welfare why a person (name supplied) in County Offaly has been refused unemployment benefit.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployment Assistance Application.
5.
A claim to unemployment benefit by the person in question was disallowed by the decision of a deciding officer on the ground that he was not unemployed. Apart from his insurable employment the insured person is a farmer. Statutory regulations provide that where a person has another occupation, as in this case, from which the remuneration or profit is more than 50p a day or its equivalent, he cannot be regarded as unemployed for the purposes of the Social Welfare Acts unless at least 78 employment contributions have been paid in respect of him in a given period of three years prior to his claim. In this case the profit from the farm greatly exceeded the statutory maximum and the claimant did not satisfy the contribution requirement mentioned. He has been informed of his right to appeal against the deciding officer's decision but so far he has not done so.