Bord na Móna benefit delays
Deputy Eugene Murphy described seasonal workers at Bord na Móna being left weeks without social welfare payments after lay-offs. The Taoiseach agreed it should not happen and said he would ask the relevant Minister to look into the case and reply directly.
We will now move to the Deputies whose questions were carried forward from yesterday. The first is Deputy Eugene Murphy.
Comment on this
Some weeks ago we had a crisis in my part of the country when 78 seasonal workers in Bord na Móna were laid off at the Mount Dillon works in Lanesboro. Many of those workers have been left throughout the summer without any social welfare payments. Some of them got their payments yesterday, after nine weeks. The Taoiseach can imagine any worker left without a week's wages and, knowing some of those families, I can assure him some of them had to go without this summer. Some had to borrow money for family members. This is a disgraceful situation. I do not expect the Taoiseach to have the knowledge about Mount Dillon today but I ask him to ensure that, in a crisis like this where temporary workers are laid off, they do not have to wait eight or ten weeks for social welfare payments. It is simply not right and is morally wrong. We should correct it in this House.
Comment on this
I agree with the Deputy that this should not happen. These are people who are paying their taxes and PRSI and should be entitled to jobseeker's benefit within a week or two, and to have it backdated. If the Deputy wants to pass some of the information around this case on to me, I will make sure the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, looks into it and advises him directly.