Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 282: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the protection that will be given to welfare recipients who are forced to refuse FÁS courses following the cessation of funding for child care employment and training support leaving them without child care; if she will guarantee that their welfare payments will not be affected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35882/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The funding for Childcare Employment and Training Support is not a matter for my Department. However, it should be noted that domestic commitments may be a restriction on a person's availability for full-time work and may thus affect their eligibility for a jobseeker's payment. To qualify for a jobseeker's payment, a person must satisfy certain conditions which includes being available for full-time work. They must be in a position to take up any reasonable offer of employment or accept training offers that are deemed suitable in order to improve their employment chances.

Individual circumstances, including childcare arrangements, may affect a customer's ability to satisfy these conditions and could have an impact on the customer's continued entitlement to payment, if they affect availability for work or result in a refusal of a suitable offer of training.