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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 18 Jun 1991

Vol. 409 No. 9

Written Answers. - Unemployment Assistance for Artists.

Eric J. Byrne

Ceist:

83 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether, in view of the tenuous prospect of securing a living for artists who work full-time at their craft and who have financial outgoings for their materials and equipment, he will allow all registered full-time artists with his Department to receive unemployment assistance, as a right, in order for these artists to be facilitated in developing their art; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Social welfare legislation provides that, in addition to satisfying a means test, a claimant to unemployment assistance must also be unemployed, available for and genuinely seeking work to qualify for payment. I am concerned that the conditions attaching to the unemployment assistance scheme should not discourage people from developing their skills with a view to their becoming self-supporting and I am reviewing these conditions to see what can be done in this regard. The particular situation of full-time artists will be borne in mind in the context of this review.

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