asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will subsidise genuinely unemployed or seriously ill persons in the payment of their TV licence fees.

The free television licence scheme administered by my Department is confined to certain categories of persons who are in receipt of old age type pensions including blind person's pension. Extension of the scheme to include unemployed or seriously ill persons who are under pension age, or to subsidise such persons in the payment of their TV licences, is not contemplated.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary say why? Surely he agrees that there is hardship caused to old age pensioners in this matter also.

The Deputy will appreciate that the numbers who qualify under the terms of the existing scheme have increased by approximately 30,000 due to the reduction in the pension age since the Government took office.

What happened that the pension age was not reduced this year as promised?

The Minister for Finance ran out of money.

The unemployment figures are up also since the Government took office.

They are and so also is the amount paid in pay-related benefit and flat rate benefit.

The Parliamentary Secretary must have run out of money.

The Deputy sounds hopeful.

I should like to know from the Parliamentary Secretary if there has been a change in the pay-related benefit recently?

That is a separate matter.

I was talking about the existence of something which was not there under the previous Government. I should like to mention that in January, 1973, 76,000 were unemployed and for most of the Fianna Fáil administration 30,000 were emigrating annually.

Up to 500 people are losing their jobs every week now.