Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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332. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will consider streamlining jobseeker's benefit claims during holidays for school bus escorts and other seasonal education workers to ensure timely payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33237/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Educational Sector Workers (ESWs), including School Bus Escorts, who wish to avail of income support while temporarily laid-off during the school breaks can apply for a jobseeker’s payment. They must satisfy all the qualifying conditions to receive a payment. This includes completing the relevant claim application forms and providing supporting documentation in a timely manner while also being available for full-time work and genuinely seeking work at each school break.

A jobseeker’s payment is only paid for days of unemployment where the person is not being remunerated for by their employer, including receipt of any holiday pay entitlement during the school break.

Those who have previously been in contact with my Department, are issued with a repeat jobseeker’s application form and a holiday entitlement form in advance of the school holiday periods. This advance process facilitates an efficient service to these customers and allows for speedy processing of their claim when the period of unemployment actually arises.

It is important to note that Educational Sector Workers, including School Bus Escorts, are still required to sign on for each period of unemployment and satisfy all the qualifying conditions for a jobseeker’s payment. As each claim is assessed individually, and each person's employment history, including previous claims is different, the payment due will also be different.

It should be noted, there is no specific scheme available for Educational Sector Workers when they are temporarily laid-off during all the school breaks. The appropriate scheme is jobseeker’s subject to the person meeting all the qualifying conditions including being available for full-time work and genuinely seeking work.

Over the last number of years my Department has dedicated teams working solely on Educational Sector Workers claims in order to minimise delays for people. However, the large volume of jobseeker's claims received at the school breaks means that some decisions on these claims may take a number of weeks to process. If any customer is in urgent financial need my Department’s Community Welfare Service can provide assistance while they wait for their claim to be processed.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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333. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when a person (details supplied) will receive a decision on an application for disablement benefit made in October 2023; if he will outline the reason the decision has taken so long and engage with Tusla on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33339/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Disablement Benefit is a compensatory payment for persons who have suffered a loss of faculty due to injury arising out of and in their insurable employment. All qualifying criteria for disablement benefit must be satisfied before entitlement to payment can be established.

The person concerned applied for disablement benefit on 26 October 2023 for an accident which was alleged to have occurred on 5 October 2018 whilst in the employment.

Due to the complexity of the scheme and the passage of time from the date of this accident to the date of the application, it was necessary to refer this case to a Social Welfare Inspector for investigation to ascertain the facts of the case. The inspection was conducted recently, following which the Social Welfare Inspector’s report was finalised, in June 2025. The accident has been deemed an occupational accident. The person concerned has been notified of this decision and advised of the next steps. The person concerned has also been referred to the Medical Assessors to ascertain their percentage loss of their faculty due to this occupational accident.

In the meantime the person concerned continues to receive income support through their Invalidity Pension payment from the Department.

I trust this clarifies the matter.