Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

A clear circular was issued to social welfare inspectors in May 2008 reminding them that they should have due regard to the likelihood that individuals' income was likely to fall and they should assess current rather than last year's income. The system appears to be working reasonably well in other areas because the number of self-employed people on jobseeker's allowance stands at more than 6,600 while the number of people in receipt of farm assist payments has increased to 8,600. People are, therefore, continuing to benefit from the scheme, which was the intention behind it. The specific cases referred to by the Deputy are being reviewed.

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