Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his earlier forbearance. I have now been provided with a reply from the Minister of Social Protection, who is out of the country at this time.

Social welfare legislation provides that a person must satisfy the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking work in order 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. Obviously, to be fair to the gentleman mentioned by the Deputy, that does not apply in his case.

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 on which they are engaged in firefighting or training. They are, however, required to satisfy other statutory conditions for the receipt of a jobseeker's payment - that is, they must continue to be available for and genuinely seeking work. In this respect, deciding officers do not treat them differently from any other jobseeker. I accept the point the Deputy has made in this regard, but I do not have the full details of the case to hand.

With regard to dealing with the systemic issue, I am familiar with the problems. In my area of Cork we have part-time firefighters and similar circumstances apply. Given the vagaries of this type of employment, issues relating to the eligibility of firefighters for jobseeker's payments have been raised with the Department of Social Protection on numerous occasions over the years. Taking account of the unusual circumstances of these workers and general efforts to develop and standardise the jobseeker schemes, a group was established in the Department to examine the position of firefighters. While the work of this group is largely completed, issues relating to firefighters remain under consideration in the Department. Key to these considerations will be recognition of the very valuable service this group of workers provide to their local communities. However, it is also important that the integrity of the jobseeker scheme is maintained. Achieving a balance in this regard will include recognising the important service these workers provide and the contribution they make to the safety of communities across the country.

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