Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a very interesting proposal. There are a number of details I would like Mr. Hession will clarify or comment on. Those of us who work our constituency clinics assiduously find that there can be a great concept but with details in it that are very much at variance with the reality of lived lives. At the bottom of page 2 of the initial document, it is stated that in order to qualify, a person would have to have six months' paid contributions in the 12 months prior to the claim. This seems to say that if a person was out on illness benefit in the 12 months prior, he or she would not be entitled to pay-related jobseeker's benefit. That seems unfair. When a person is made unemployed, it is not within their control. When a person gets ill, it is not within their control either. That is my first point.

Perhaps Mr. Hession could clarify the position regarding my second point. I read the proposal carefully but I am not completely sure about one aspect. It states that pay-related jobseeker's benefit would last for six months. Does this mean that eligibility for jobseeker's benefit will be reduced from nine months to six months or is it that only pay-related benefit will last for six months? Maybe Mr. Hession will clarify the position in that regard?