Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 344: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary is not being accepted under the rural social scheme. [23292/06]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Participants are allowed to transfer on to the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) from Unemployment Benefit only in those cases where the Unemployment Benefit (UB) refers to a period spent on a Community Employment (CE) Scheme. In these circumstances, the participant must transfer to the RSS within 15 months of the cessation of CE.

In this particular case, the applicant's UB claim is on the basis of a CE Scheme which finished in September 2004 and is, therefore, outside the 15 month limit. Notwithstanding the above, the applicant can re-apply for participation on the RSS after he has exhausted his UB entitlement if he is subsequently in receipt of a qualifying Social Welfare payment.