asked the Minister for Labour if he has any plans to pay a Christmas bonus to persons on social employment schemes and other schemes operated by his Department; whether people who go from long term unemployment assistance to these schemes are deprived of the Christmas bonus and furthermore lose their long term unemployment assistance rating when they finish on these schemes and return to unemployment assistance; if he has any plans to consult with the Minister for Social Welfare regarding these anomalies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Christmas Bonus.
20.
I have no proposals to pay a Christmas bonus to social employment scheme participants.
The rate of payment on the social employment schemes is not related to an individual's level of entitlement to social welfare payments. The payment is, of course, for a half week's work.
On completion of a period on the Social Employment Scheme, persons maintain the level of social welfare entitlement they enjoyed immediately prior to commencement. Persons on long term unemployment assistance would therefore resume at this level of payment if they returned to the live register directly from the Social Employment Scheme.