Vol. 483 No. 4
45 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs his views on whether it is fair that the families of prisoners whose unemployment claim is broken as a result of their circumstances do not qualify for the Christmas bonus; and if he will review the matter with particular reference to a person (details supplied) in County Waterford. [20345/97]
I understand that the person concerned has been in receipt of long-term unemployment assistance up to 16 July 1996. He subsequently served a prison sentence from 17 July 1996 to 31 July 1997.
Section 120 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, sets out the conditions governing the linking of claims for the purposes of claiming unemployment assistance. Briefly, these provisions state that any three days of unemployment within a period of six consecutive days are treated as a continuous period of unemployment and any two such periods, provided that they are not separated by more than one year, are treated as one continous period of unemployment. Since more than one year had elapsed since the person in question ceased to be entitled to long-term unemployment assistance, his claim for unemployment assistance on his release from prison was correctly treated as a new claim and he was accordingly awarded unemployment assistance at the short-term rate only. I recognise the fact that the award of unemployment assistance at the short-term rate will mean that the person in question will not qualify for the Christmas bonus, which is payable only with long-term social welfare payments. The Deputy will appreciate, however, that any departure from the existing legislative provisions would have to have regard to the wider implications and costs associated with such a measure.
