John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Question 236: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the fact that there is no notice given where jobseeker's benefit is finishing and job seeker's allowance needs to be applied for; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25729/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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An automated notification is issued to customers in receipt of jobseeker's benefit which informs them that their benefit is running out and that they can apply for jobseeker's allowance or jobseeker's credits. The notification includes the application form for jobseeker's allowance and issues 10 weeks prior to their expected last day of entitlement to jobseeker's benefit. A reminder issues 6 weeks later if no correspondence has been received back from the customer.

There are certain categories which are excluded from the automated process for operational reasons, such as casual workers, as it is not possible to predict the exact date on which their benefit will run out. These claimants are contacted through a manual process before their jobseeker's benefit expires.