Vol. 427 No. 3
67 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Minister for Social Welfare the reason an unemployed person has to be 13 weeks on the live register so that an employer qualifies for PRSI exemption, whereas eight weeks on the live register is the requirement for the £54 per week employment subsidy; and the changes, if any, he proposes to make to these schemes.
The purpose of the PRSI exemption scheme is to encourage employers to recruit additional employees, who would otherwise be unemployed. Qualifying employees must have been on the live register for at least 13 weeks, must represent a net increase in the employer's workforce and be recruited during the period from the 19th October 1992 to the 19th March 1993. This approach is in line with practice on previous occasions when the Employers' PRSI exemption scheme operated. A condition of live register attachment of at least this duration also applies to most employment schemes operated by FÁS. This scheme is due to expire shortly and I am having its operation examined.
