Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Nov 2000

Vol. 527 No. 1

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefit.

Proinsias De Rossa

Ceist:

117 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that school wardens are being forced to leave their employment due to the regulations of his Department which have denied them unemployment benefit during the school summer holidays; the measures he will put in place to protect school children if replacements cannot be found for this very necessary service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27904/00]

Proinsias De Rossa

Ceist:

121 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the reason mainly women part-time workers, particularly school wardens who find it impossible to secure employment for six to seven weeks during the summer school recess, are not being paid unem ployment benefit for this period; the further reason his Department will not accept that employers will not take on workers for such a brief period of time as it is not worth their while training these people and completing necessary paperwork despite evidence presented by these workers; if he is willing to rectify this anomaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27917/00]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 121 together.

Social welfare legislation provides, that a person must satisfy the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking work in order to be entitled to unemployment benefit or assistance. Statutory Instrument No. 137 of 1998 specifies the circumstances in which a person is, or is not, deemed to be available for and genuinely seeking employment. Comprehensive guidelines on the application of the availability and genuinely seeking work conditions for entitlement to unemployment payments are made available to deciding officers and these guidelines are designed to ensure that the conditions for receipt of unemployment payments are applied in a uniform and consistent manner.

In applying the legislation in any case, deciding officers have regard to the availability of job vacancies in the locality and to the extent to which a claimant has sought to take advantage of the range of labour market opportunities which exist in the present economic climate. Any person who fails to satisfy the deciding officer that he or she is available for full-time employment and genuinely seeking work is not entitled to an unemployment payment. School wardens are expected to meet the same requirements as other claimants in that regard.

Where a person is dissatisfied with a decision made by a deciding officer he or she may appeal this decision to the independent social welfare appeals office.

The unemployment benefit scheme is not intended to cater for situations where people are in part-time work and are only available to work on a part-time basis. If, however, a person in part-time employment loses that employment and shows that he or she is available for and seeking but unable to obtain full-time work then there would be a entitlement to unemployment benefit for the full week.

The employment of school wardens is a matter entirely for the relevant local authorities and I will bring the Deputy's concern to the attention of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government.