Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)

Certain groups of people, including seasonal workers and school caretakers, in particular, are excluded from pay-related jobseeker's benefits and allowances. Seasonal workers are every bit as unemployed when they are not working; it is just that they are unemployed for a specific period. Will the Minister give some consideration to including those people, who we rely on and lean on in the seasons when they work? It is not their fault they do not have work. The Minister knows that well. They are available for work but it is very tough to find work. School principals and teachers will tell you these workers are very much necessary and needed. They like that continuity of service but these workers feel very aggrieved, and rightly so, that they have been excluded from the programme.

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