James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton.

Social welfare legislation provides that a person must satisfy the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking work to be entitled to a jobseeker's payment. Any person who fails to satisfy these conditions on an ongoing basis is not entitled to such payment. Unlike other jobseekers who must sign off the live register on any day on which they find work, part-time firefighters are paid a jobseeker's payment in respect of days that they are engaged in fire-fighting or training. They are, however, required to satisfy the statutory conditions for the receipt of a jobseekers payment, that is they must continue to be available for and genuinely seeking work. In this respect, departmental deciding officers do not treat them differently to any other jobseeker.

In applying the legislation, deciding officers have regard to the availability of job vacancies in the locality, the age and educational qualifications together with the family circumstances of the particular claimant. The legislation does not impose any restriction or limitation on the right of a person to the opportunity to engage in the employment of his or her choice. Where a person is seeking work in his or her usual employment and there is a reasonable prospect of securing work of that nature, he or she would normally satisfy the conditions for receipt of payment.

However, if there is no work available locally, the jobseeker must seek employment in the surrounding areas. It may be necessary also to extend their availability to different categories of employment rather than confine their availability to a particular type of work.

After a period of unemployment, a person must be prepared to accept any employment for which he or she is qualified. It is a principle of the availability for work condition that a person's unemployment must be involuntary. It is not possible for an unemployed person to hold herself or himself available exclusively for employment that is in a restricted distance from a fire station where he or she is employed as a part-time firefighter. Such action would be taken as placing an unreasonable restriction on his or her availability to secure full-time employment.

A person may be regarded as not being available for work if he or she imposes unreasonable restrictions on the nature of the employment, the hours of work, the rate of pay, the duration of the employment, the location of the employment and other conditions of employment which he or she is prepared to accept. A deciding officer may impose a disallowance in a case where a person refuses an offer of suitable employment or where he or she imposes unreasonable restrictions on the location of the employment he or she is prepared to accept.

Issues relating to the eligibility of firefighters for jobseeker's payments have been raised with the Department on several occasions over the years. Taking account of the unusual circumstances of these workers and general efforts to develop and standardise our jobseeker schemes, a group has been established in the Department to examine the position of firefighters. It will be reporting to the Minister over the coming period. She will keep relevant Deputies informed as this issue is progressed and would welcome any suggestions they may have.

Key to the Minister's considerations will be recognition of the valuable service which this group of workers provide to their local communities. However, it is also important that the integrity of the jobseeker schemes be maintained.

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