Jim Higgins
Ceist:38 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will change the system whereby applicants for unemployment benefit and assistance have to sign on at Garda stations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Signing on Procedures.
All applicants for unemployment payments are required to attend at a local office of the department and sign the unemployed register. Where the local office is more than 6 miles away applicants sign at their local Garda station. The signing process serves as a point of contact between the Department and the claimant, it facilitates identification, the prevention of abuse and provides an opportunity for determining whether each claimant continues to satisfy the conditions of entitlement.
In recent years the frequency of attendance at local offices and Garda signing centres has been considerably relaxed for many claimants in conjunction with the introduction of alternative methods of payment. Many claimants are now required to sign the live register once a month and some even less frequently.
This has come about following the introduction of alternative methods of payment for the unemployed. Some are required to sign the live register only once every six months. The process of paying otherwise than by cash at local offices is being extended to all areas and as it proceeds the frequency of attendance will be reduced.
Until the new arrangements are fully established in all areas, there will be a continuing need for some weekly signing at local offices and at the nearest Garda stations for those who reside more than 6 miles from the nearest local office. As further developments take place this feature will be kept under continuing review.