Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

They used to be taken into account. I do not know when that was changed. If a person who was unfairly dismissed received social welfare payments while awaiting a hearing and that must be taken into account in the context of the level of compensation to be awarded, then he or she is being unfairly treated twice.

In many cases while they are waiting for the hearing, which could be for two or three years, they must stay on social welfare benefits because it can be difficult to get another job if there is a question mark over why they were sacked from their previous job. However, when it is proved an employer breached legislation and unfairly dismissed a person, because an employer must breach legislation to be guilty of unfair dismissal, it is the person who was unfairly dismissed who bears the brunt rather than the employer who committed the breach of legislation in the first place. I do not get it. It is unfair.