asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he is prepared to introduce an assistance scheme to help people who have lost unemployment assistance because of illness and who are not covered by any schemes at present apart from entitlement to disabled person's maintenance allowance which does not cover dependants and therefore does not provide sufficient income for married persons with dependent families.

Persons who cease to be entitled to unemployment assistance because they become ill and are therefore no longer available for work are covered by the new supplementary welfare allowances scheme which provides for themselves and their dependants. The introduction of a scheme, as suggested by the Deputy, to cover such persons is therefore not necessary. A person who receives a disabled person's maintenance allowance may also get a supplementary welfare allowance in respect of his dependants.