asked the Minister for Social Welfare the position for applicants who are minding elderly relatives and are refused unemployment assistance on the grounds that they are not available for work, who then decide not to take care of their relatives and present themselves as available for work as they are told by the officials of his Department that they have to mind the relatives and are still refused unemployment assistance.
Written Answers. - Unemployment Assistance Qualification.
19.
Applicants for unemployment assistance must satisfy a deciding officer that they are available for and genuinely seeking work in order to qualify for payment.
It is a fact that family responsibilities, such as caring for elderly relatives, sometimes prevent a person who is unemployed from being in a position to go to work and consequently make that person unavailable for work as required for the award of unemployment assistance. Each case is decided on its merits and the deciding officer has to decide whether the applicant is free, or not, to go to work. The deciding officer will have to take into account the proposed alternative arrangements for the care of the elderly relative in arriving at a decision. This would be of particular importance where an applicant states that he or she is no longer looking after the relative. In addition the deciding officer must take account of the efforts made by the person in seeking work.
I am assuming from inquiries already made by the Deputy that he has a particular case in mind which involves an applicant who was last in insurable employment in 1978. She has stated that she has to look after her widowed mother who is invalided and in need of constant care and attention. The household consists of the applicant and her mother. The applicant was unable to show that she had any alternative arrangements made for the care of her mother in the event of her obtaining work. She also failed to satisfy the deciding officer that she is genuinely seeking work. She has had the benefit of two oral hearings of her appeals against the decision to refuse her payment of unemployment assistance and both appeals officers upheld the decisions to refuse the payment. A deciding officer decided on 27 June 1988 that she still was not available for and genuinely seeking work.
The applicant has, however, been in receipt of supplementary welfare allowance at the maximum rate of £34 per week since January last and this will be increased to £37.80 per week from 25 July 1988.