asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will give details of the panels of assessors appointed by him to assist at oral hearings of appeals in relation to entitlement to unemployment benefit and to unemployment assistance for the Roscommon area; the organisations that the individuals represent; the terms and durations of their appointments; and the yearly cost attached to each appointment.
Written Answers. - County Roscommon Social Welfare Assessors.
286.
Panels of assessors are appointed under the Social Welfare Acts to assist appeals officers at oral hearings about entitlement to unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance. The panels are composed of persons nominated by local employer and trade union bodies and are constituted at intervals of five years. The Roscommon area is at present served by the Longford, Sligo and Ballina panels. The Longford panel was set up on 17 April 1983 and is due to expire on 16 April 1988. The Sligo panel was set up on 24 June 1985 and is due to expire on 23 June 1990. The Ballina panel was set up on 13 June 1983 and is due to expire on 12 June 1988. The employer and worker bodies represented on the panels are as follows:
Longford Chamber of Commerce
Sligo Chamber of Commerce
Ballina Chamber of Commerce
Irish Farmers' Association
Macra na Feirme
Federated Union of Employers
Irish Transport and General Workers' Union
National Association of Transport Employees
National Graphical Association
Transport Salaried Staffs Association
Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians
Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks
Sligo Council of Trade Unions
Trades Council Ballina
Trades Council Castlebar
Apart from incidental expenses in respect of subsistence and travelling there is no cost involved in the appointment of assessors. In 1985 the total amount of these expenses for the Longford. Sligo and Ballina panels was £417.56 of which an insignificant amount was in respect of assessors for the Roscommon area.