Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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Thanks. The Minister stated that if, people lost their jobs, the sudden loss of income could be difficult to adjust to. It definitely can but even if the loss of income is not sudden, it can still be difficult to adjust to. I am sure seasonal workers have written to the Minister, as they have to me, so he will be aware that they are aggrieved they will not be able to access pay-related jobseeker's benefit because it is predictable that they will be unemployed. I would contend that, be it a sudden loss of income or a predicted one, it is no less of a shock to the system. They feel aggrieved to have been left out. It is hard for them to hear ads on the radio advising people who have lost their jobs. They do lose their jobs - they just to it routinely. I am talking about school secretaries, caretakers and so on. The Minister and I both have people in the teaching profession in our lives, so I am saying this with an advisory note. It makes it difficult to be the only person in the staff room with no form of income continuance over the summer and other break periods. Has any thought been given by the Department to doing something for seasonal workers who undergo a period of unemployment that is predictable but, nonetheless, difficult to adjust to?