Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 4 Feb 1988

Vol. 377 No. 5

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

35.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare if any particular instructions have been given to his Department's staff, dealing with claimants from the Howth area of County Dublin; if special criteria have been laid down for assessing eligibility for unemployment assistance peculiar to the Howth area; if he will explain the way in which in one week a considerable number of claimants for unemployment assistance whose surnames all began with the letter M were disallowed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Entitlement to unemployment assistance is subject to the condition that a claimant must be available for and genuinely seeking work. The Department must be satisfied that claimants continue to satisfy this condition while they are in receipt of payment and for this reason all claims are subject to review from time to time.

Reviews of entitlements may take the form of reviews of individual cases which warrant specific attention or they may consist of reviews of certain claims selected on a random basis and the persons concerned being asked to supply evidence of the specific efforts they have made to find employment.

No particular instructions have been given to staff for reviewing claimants in the Howth area nor have any special criteria been laid down for assessing claimants' eligibility for unemployment assistance in that area.

During the course of a general review in November to mid-December last of postal claims registered at Cumberland Street Employment Exchange, 75 claims in the Howth area were among postal claims selected for review on a random basis. Postal claims at the employment exchange are filed in alphabetical order for each area and those selected for review at random for the Howth area were from a batch whose surnames ranged from "A" to "M". Of those whose entitlements were subsequently disallowed by a deciding officer on the grounds that the claimants were not available for or genuinely seeking work, less than half had their surnames begin with "M". This was simply a result of the alphabetical group used for the purpose of selecting cases for review on that particular occasion.

36.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total number of persons who reside in Celbridge, County Kildare who are in receipt of unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance.

On 3 February 1988, there were 237 unemployment benefit recipients and 196 unemployment assistance recipients with addresses in Celbridge, County Kildare.

37.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare can be considered for disability pension as he has been in receipt of disability benefit for ten years.

Invalidity pension is payable to insured persons who satisfy the contribution conditions and who are permanently incapable of work. The person concerned was examined on 4 January 1988 by a medical referee who did not consider him to be permanently incapable of work and asked to have him referred for a further examination in four months. A deciding officer decided that he was not therefore entitled to invalidity pension. The person concerned was notified on 2 February 1988 of this decision and on his right of appeal.

Barr
Roinn