asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of people in County Cork in receipt of social welfare assistance who should be in receipt of unemployment assistance; and if he will make a statement on the reason for this.

There are about 180 persons receiving supplementary welfare allowance in County Cork who are also applicants for unemployment assistance. It is not possible at this stage to say how many will qualify for unemployment assistance as this will depend on whether they satisfy the means test and also the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking employment.

Where a person already holds a qualification certificate which is a statement of his means, he is normally paid unemployment assistance in the week of his claim. However, where he does not hold such a certificate, his means must be investigated and this requires a visit to his home by a social welfare officer. Very often further inquiries are necessary to verify various forms of income such as money in the bank, income from creameries or other sources, before a final assessment can be made. Some delay may arise in such cases and in order to prevent hardship in cases of need, applicants are advised that they may apply for supplementary welfare allowance pending a decision on their unemployment assistance entitlement.

One of the main purposes of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme is to alleviate hardship in such cases and local offices work in close co-operation with local community welfare officers for this purpose. The weekly rates of supplementary welfare allowance are the same as the rural rates of unemployment assistance so that a person who receives the allowance is compensated at a reasonable level by virtue of receiving supplementary welfare allowance while his unemployment assistance entitlement is being examined.

4.