Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 189: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he plans to investigate the reduction in people signing for social welfare payments during the period in which flights were grounded by the ash cloud; if this reduction has been brought to his attention by his officials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26018/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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In any given week, there will be a number of jobseekers who do not attend their Social Welfare Local Office to 'sign on' the live register for various reasons. For example, the person may have, without notifying the Department, taken up employment, taken a holiday, may be unwell or have forgotten to attend their Local Office, given that signing is done on a four-week cycle and therefore not on the same date each month.

In such cases, the Department suspends the jobseeker payment of the person who has not signed until their reason for not signing has been established. Where the Department is satisfied that the person continues to fulfil the qualifying conditions for the jobseekers scheme, their payment is restored. In some instances, claims are referred for further investigation. These measures were applied in cases where customers failed to sign during the week of flight disruption. Table 1 below shows that the numbers failing to sign during the period of flight disruption was not significantly different from other weeks in same four-week signing cycle.

Table 1