Vol. 546 No. 3
45 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that young workers, including those laid off in the economic downturn, are finding it difficult to access unemployment assistance or benefit. [31603/01]
Social welfare legislation provides that a person must be available for and genuinely seeking work in order to be entitled to unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance. Guidelines on the application of these conditions are made available to deciding officers and are designed to ensure that the conditions for receipt of unemployment payments are applied in a consistent manner and have regard to the circumstances of the claimant.
A person who has recently become unemployed, for example, within the last two to three months, would be regarded as fulfilling the availability for work condition where he or she is seeking to become re-employed in his or her usual employment, provided there is a reasonable prospect of this. However, if there is no employment available within a specialised field, or if a person fails to secure employment in his or her chosen field within a reasonable period of time, the search for work should, in the normal course, be widened to include other types of employment.
People claiming an unemployment payment are asked for details of their efforts to find employment and some evidence of this would normally be required before a claim is allowed. Again this requirement is operated in a reasonable manner and is designed to ensure that only those who are genuinely seeking employment qualify for payment.
There is an onus on each person to demonstrate, on an ongoing basis, that the qualifying conditions are met by showing that he or she is making reasonable efforts to secure suitable full-time employment or self-employment.
Persons who are put on a reduced working week must be available for full-time employment and must be seeking work for the periods during which they are not employed. To qualify for an unemployment payment, persons who work three days per week must be making efforts to find work for the other days of the week, or suitable full-time employment elsewhere.
