Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 431: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the categories of social welfare recipients that are counted in the live register figures with a breakdown of the number for each recipient category; if people refused jobseeker claims, people signing on for credits, participants on community employment schemes and back to education allowance claimants are counted; if participants on the new work placement scheme, participants on the new short time working scheme and participants on the new third level courses for the unemployed will to be counted; and if she will provide a figure for the number in each of these categories that are not counted in the live register figures. [27720/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The live register is complied from returns made for each local office to the Central Statistics Office by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. According to the CSO, the compilation basis for the live register statistics from May 1992 onwards is described in the September 1992 issue of the Statistical Bulletin.

Those counted on the Live Register include people under 65 years who are claiming jobseeker's allowance or benefit and people being awarded credited contributions. Those include systematic short-term workers, small holders and other self-employed people over 65 years of age.

The Live Register at 26th June 2009 stood at over 418,000 with 197,000 approximately on jobseeker's benefit and over 206,000 on jobseeker's allowance. Over 14,000 were being awarded credited contributions.

Others who are not included in the Live Register figures include: Others who are not included in the Live Register figures include:

?People participating on the Back to Education allowance of whom 7,900 approximately transferred from jobseeker schemes

?Back to work scheme participants of whom almost 5,000 transferred from jobseeker's schemes

?The 8,000 participants on the Pre-retirement allowance scheme, which was closed in 2007.

?People on the community employment scheme of whom over 8,700 transferred from a jobseeker's payment

Participants in the new part-time courses under the back to college initiative for unemployed workers will continue to receive their jobseeker's payment provided they continue to be available for and seeking a job. They will be counted on the live register.

The new work placement scheme and the new short time working training scheme are administered by FÁS. Participants will continue to receive their jobseeker payments subject to the qualifying conditions. Applications are being processed by FÁS but cases have not yet been received for approval by this Department. The matter of their status has yet to be decided.